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What Mac journalism grad wouldn’t feel lucky to supplement liberal arts and science courses with professional journalism training from Ivan Burg and A.P. Beedon? I was luckier still to meet my future wife, Marlene Brandt, in astronomy class. We married in 1960. Our two daughters and two granddaughters are the stars of our lives.

More news experience was gained at the Air Force and Associated Press, plus by earning a master’s in Public Relations and Business Administration from the U of Minn. That set the stage for amazing adventures as a public relations practitioner and team manager in a dozen technologies throughout the U.S. I specialized in promotion and crisis communications for leading corporations or the agencies that served them. My teams earned some top awards and I was lucky to be elected president for a year in the 400-member Minnesota chapter of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA). Honeywell is where I started before Mac graduation and 3M is where I retired.

Along the way, Marlene and I have sought to help others. I provided PRSA Accreditation-test training for 15 years and taught a graduate-level PR class at St. Thomas. I am on the Mac 1958 Reunion Committee. Twice I served the United Way. I’m a volunteer judge for an international editing contest in the Turf and Ornamental Tree industry, and I help judge high school history and science competitions. I have served on committees and/or the board in two condos and a statewide condo trade association. For 15 years Marlene and I have volunteered at annual coat and toy distributions for the Salvation Army. For six years we have been trained interpreters at Como Park’s Japanese Garden.

Mac’s international and science programs left their mark. I had the good fortune to travel 49 states and Canada to Puerto Rico, Norway to New Zealand. As a radio ham, I made acquaintances in 120 countries on every continent. With my large homemade telescope, I lift guests’ eyes to the stars.