Biography
The tectonic layers of our lives rest so tightly one on top of the other that we always come up against earlier events in later ones, not as matter that has been fully formed and pushed aside, but absolutely present and alive.
~ Bernard Schlink’s The Reader
.Close Kin
I am married to Anna Marie (Nee Benander) “Mim” Warren. We have a daughter, Rachel, who is married to David Morrissey. They have two sons, Jack and Will born in 2001 and 2004, respectively.
Writing
See details under PROJECTS. Here is a summary. I have written a book about golf, called An Old Caddie Looks Back: Reflections from a Town that Loves Golf … and Tiger which is now in its second edition. Another book entitled Discovering Lake Superior and the Western Upper Peninsula of Michigan is just out . A third one, with the working title of Discovering Belwah will tell the fictional story of a high school class whose students and teacher are frustrated with the present state of the print media. Their response: do some investigative journalism… and by doing so link together some of my short fictional pieces that are crying to come out. And a fourth one is tentatively entitled The Learner. Such a title could apply to all us.
This one will deal with the highs and lows of being a clergy person. So writing is very important to me, but I have no allusions about the depth of my insights or the breadth of my readership.
However, I can say with confidence that the process of thinking of things and putting them into words keeps me from stealing hubcaps, playing pool, and otherwise causing trouble … vices that I was taught to avoid.
The influence of schooling
I was formally educated in and graduated from the public schools of Rockford, Illinois, followed by a
bachelor’s degree from Augustana College, a Master’s from the University of Illinois, and a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin. My undergraduate major was psychology with de facto minors in English and Philosophy/Religious Studies. Master’s work was in School Counseling; the Ph.D. in Educational Psychology with a dissertation regarding children’s creativity. I earned my advanced degrees while working as a teacher and/or guidance counselor in the public schools of Illnois and Wisconsin. For many years at Beloit College I was a faculty member and chair of the Department of Education before retiring in 2001.
My main scholarly interests while there focused on children’s thinking, comparative education, and teacher education in liberal arts college settings. Beloit College strongly supports international education which made it easy for me to initiate overseas teaching practice programs that brought Beloit students and faculty to the United Kingdom, South Africa, Australia, Japan and other distant settings. In 1989 I was a Malone Fellow of the National Council on United States – Arab relations, a role that took me to Iraq during the peaceful lull between the Iran-Iraq war and Saddam Hussein’s move into Kuwait. While in my role as a teacher educator at Beloit I became active in the Association of Independent Liberal Arts Colleges for Teacher Education, a national organization. I served as Publications Editor for eight years and later as President.
Community participation
Most of my volunteer work has been in and around Beloit, Wisconsin. I was one of several who founded a neighborhood advocacy organization, an activity that got me into local politics where I ultimately served three terms on the city council. Over the years I have helped to bring golf to historically underrepresented kids, recognize outstanding teachers via Rotary Club, lead adult study at a local church, and serve on the board of a school in Cameroon, West Africa. Recently I have joined the board of the Roy Chapman Andrews Society, celebrating the Beloit explorer who many say was the real-life inspiration for the fictional Indiana Jones.
Travel
We have a cabin on Lake Superior in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and try to get there as much as possible between April and November. Our overseas trips over the decades have focussed on the UK and Scandinavia in Europe, plus Israel, southern Africa, Canada and more recently, warmer spots in the middle of winter: for example, the Galapagos Islands & Costa Rica (Why did it take so long to discover this duty?). Not to forget the United States, we do motor around and occasionally use frequent flier miles (That sounds oxymoronic) … As I told an elementary school class a while back, a book that profoundly influenced me as a child was Mickey (Mouse) Sees the USA. By now I’ve seen much of it, but not Rhode Island, Delaware, and Hawaii.
