Warren Gregory
wbgregory [at] qwest.net
Planning to attend
Some of you may recall my paintings of castles and magical lands as a Studio Arts major. I was a little out of step — or advancing to my own drumbeat. I think Jerry Rudquist, my advising professor, wondered how I was going to be making a living.
Well, it’s been in the food business — hotels, restaurants and now the wine business. The schedule has been hellish much of the way and my wife, Ruth Bixler-Gregory '82, and daughter, Carolyn, have been very patient and are now adjusting to my new, more regular working hours. Ruth has been a great partner and is now a teacher in the public schools in St Paul.
I have traveled some for work and hope for more travel in the future as a seller of fine wine. I received my certification as a Sommelier (French for "wine guy"), teach, write and train on the local scene everything to do with wine and everything else — beer, distilled spirits, even cigars — that is not food. So, it's pretty clear I'm at least eating better than I did at Mac.
My Mac Memories: The painting studios seemed like a perfect world to me when I was at Mac. I remember all the heated discussions on aesthetics and artistic values. And the long, lonely hours working on abstract puzzles of color and form. In fact, the range of conversations I had with all my friends on campus, the fertile hopes and dreams of so many people opening up their young lives. Macalester was a great memory and a great experience. Whenever I go back to campus I am struck by the fact that all my friends seem to still be students there... I mean, no matter how much times change, the same kinds of kids are attending, following the same creative-intellectual paths we followed, and perhaps adding to life in the same ways we have been able to do.
