chapter 306

Becoming Presidential

2/12/2013

making friends and influencing people

Through the years I've had a big impact on many successful people. The current President of SUNY Brockport, John Halstead, is just one of the many pupils I've mentored along the way. We never reconnected until this week. Through the magic of iPad we exchanged a few emails.

 I took John under my wing and got him centered back in 1966 when he finished highschool. Here I was explaining some principles of Newtonian physics . As you bob along the waves of life's travels, remember that every job is not a plum. Keep your eye on the prize and in the end you will be successful. I believe this lesson has kept him grounded and prevented him from going over the financial cliff.

One day Dad helped tune the carbs on his British Racing Green Austin Healey Sprite back then when John was headed for Colgate University. You gotta ask yourself, did John feel lucky that day, or what might have happened if that engine quit at an inopportune time.

 They called my Virgil friends pea pickers back then, but for good reason. Here the old gang reminisces fondly about the good old days slaving away for the canning company that John's dad owned. That was on Squire Street where our McKee Survey office was also headquarted.

 The Sy FY channels Ghost Hunters recently did a nice job talking to the ghosts at the 1890 House (cable on demand). Seems that the ghosts favored the mid 19th century billiards table that I tried to describe in the Iowa chapter. That house was just 2 house/ mansions down the street from where John lived when we were survey partners.

Moral of the story: Like ships passing in the night, you just gotta wonder where they are going.

SUNY Brockport

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