1 Places
Berthoud, Colorado was a small agricultural community that provided a laid-back environment that shaped my life. At 12 on the farm, I was breaking horses and driving tractors. Adventures with classmates and athletics were important to my physical and social development. The farming experience led to understanding how to make things happen and eventually led to my study of world agriculture. I became open to exploring beyond.
After leaving Berthoud, I struggled with 2 years of college and chose to join the Peace Corps. That was the most significant leap in understanding of my life, where I was able to experience the tropical environment of Brazil, learn Portuguese and find myself. I married Mary Anderson, whom I had met before joining the Peace Corps. Colorado University provided the opportunity to explore academia and discover the discipline of Geography, where I received my BA in Geography in 1969. I applied at the University of Florida to pursue a master’s degree, where I was offered an assistantship with the study of the geography of agriculture. There I completed my master’s thesis on the spread of Citrus farming in Florida. The chair of the department asked me to continue on with the PHD and with a Fulbright grant returned to Mato Grosso, Brazil where I focused on the environment of two agricultural colonies for my PhD dissertation.
My first job lasted three years at the University of Khartoum in Sudan where I taught a variety of geography courses and studied the agricultural environments of the Sahel. Upon return to the USA, I had an excellent year at the University of North Dakota where I was able to publish a number of academic writings on farming traditions of the Sudan. From there, I was hired by Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis to develop a Geography Department and to pursue my interest in tropical agriculture. Mary and I were divorced and two years later I married Maryellen Beckman.
As a geography professor, I worked for 40 years at IUPUI with intermittent absences to teach three years at the University of Technology in Papua New Guinea, one year at Eduardo Mondlane University in Maputo, Mozambique, and two semesters at Moi University in Kenya. I continue my geography research and teaching focus on traditional tropical agriculture, Geography of Soils and environmental conservation. I have also acquired a working knowledge speaking Portuguese (fluently), Spanish, Arabic, Swahili, and Tok Pisen.
Mary and I had five children, and I helped Maryellen raise an additional 3 children. Several of my children have my adventurous spirit, traveling, living abroad and speaking foreign languages, but they all are charting their own distinct courses. Between my 8 kids, I have 16 grandchildren.