My Story - John Smiley
Last Updated on 05/13/08

Since Catalina I’ve been a “university guy” pretty much the whole time, though I’ve been lucky to live in very nice places – Austin, Costa Rica, Australia, Big Sur and now Bishop. 

I had two kids, Terry and Annie, with my first wife Nancy, and now they’re both married with a grandbaby on the way.  I remarried in 1986, to Kim, and had two girls, Rose and Sonie.  Sonie is soon to head off to college so we will experience the “empty nest” for the first time.  

Family has been my favorite thing in life, and still is!  But I love to get out hiking and exploring, and I just bought a bike for going shopping in town (I live 4 miles outside of Bishop). 

Riding the bike reminds me of being a kid in Tucson and riding to school every day for who knows how many years?  My Dad passed away about 12 years ago, and my Mom, last year.  Now when I look in the mirror I see them in me.  Now I’m even organizing a conference on climate change, which is something my Dad did at the U of A!

I’m thinking about retirement in a couple of years and having adventures, though things are complicated by the fact that Kim won’t be retiring for some time.  She teaches math at the Bishop middle school.  But I want to finish a long-deferred project on beetles in Costa Rica (“bug-science” has become a hobby for me).  I also want to go to Africa and help my daughter Annie, who will probably be living there in a few years with her Sudanese husband Hashim.  Kim and I want to travel to Brazil for a vacation, and visit Chungba, a Tibetan village in Sichuan where we are supporting students financially.  One more big adventure will be to build a cabin on our blackened property in San Diego County.  I plan to make it fireproof! 

For time-travel back to the 60’s, read the story I wrote about the “Alaska Summer of 1968.” about my post-graduation trip to the north with Bob Harris and Ricky Harris:  http://johnterahsmiley.com/. Please scroll down to find the link referring to the “true adventure story from 1968.”

My fondest high school memories are the get-togethers with you all, doing class assignments over at Regan’s house or sitting around a camp fire in the desert at night.  I can still feel the warmth of those bonds we made.

Message to the class:  We live in a magical time….pass it on!

John Smiley
jsmiley@ucsd.edu