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Desert Island Bookshelf

​If you were stranded on a desert island and could only have 10 books for companions, which would you choose...these would be my companions:

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click on underlined books below to access on Amazon.com, read reviews, and/or purchase

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1.   Jerusalem Bible--especially Ecclesiastes, Job, Song of Songs, Tobit, Gospels, & Revelation

2.   People's Mass Book

3.   Meditation by Eknath Easwaran

4.   One River, Many Wells by Matthew Fox:

            https://www.amazon.com/One-River-Many-Wells-Springing/dp/1585423262/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=one+river+many+wells&qid=1580675308&sr=8-1

5.   American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language

6.   Integral life practice by Ken Wilber

7.   Gaia's Garden by Tom Hemenway

8.   Herbal Medicine by Sharol Tilgner

9.   Tom Browns Field Guide to Wilderness Survival by Tom Brown, Jr.

10. Healing in Hypnosis by Milton H. Erickson

 

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​Teaching Influences

​Most of us were blessed with a few good teachers--I've been fortunate to have many--looking back, there are also several people, through their books and videos, that have deeply influenced my teaching:

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​Research Influences

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Some of these people have taught me the ways of research in the classroom, others I have only met through their work, mainly in books.

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  • Sister Ann--6th grade, personal responsibility and the voice in the wilderness  

  • Ralph Baldenegro--8th grade coach, how to meditate

  • Donovan & Minetta--high school English, how to write

  • Shamony--high school law, human rights

  • Dutton--undergraduate philosophy, how to think

  • Kostenbaum--undergraduate existentialism, facing death

  • Cal Hylton and Ted Balgoan--graduate school, the hard and the soft

  • ​Judee Burgoon and Michael Burgoon--graduate school, all things social scientific

  • Bud Goodall--Casing a promised land & Divine signs--models of autoethnography

  • Andrew Greeley--Priest, Social Scientist, & Story-teller extraordinaire

  • Robert Coles--The call of stories

  • Art Bochner--Coming to narrative

  • Carol Ellis--Courageous, clear, and creative autoethnographer

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​Spiritual Influences

This section is characterized by some of the personal and "book" relationships which I hold dear to my heart.

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Sisters: Barbara Jean, Ann, Clare Morris, Beverly Dunn, Virginia O'Riley, and Nancy Healey

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Fathers: George Seaber, Chester Michael, Thomas Keating of Contemplative Outreach, Thomas Dubay, Thomas Merton, Jim Gordon, Jim Kruc, William McNamara, Anthony de Mello, and Richard Rohr Center for Action & Contemplation

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​Some of my Favorite Saints:

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  • Joseph the Worker

  • Blessed Mother Mary

  • Benedict of Nursia

  • Hildegard of Bingen

  • Ignatius of Loyola

  • Frances of Assisi

  • John of the Cross

  • Teresa of Avila

  • Therese of Lisieux 

  • Julian of Norwich

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Some of my Heros/Heroines:

 

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Family Influences

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Some of my greatest inspiration and motivation comes from my family.

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My beloved spouse and best friend of 30+ years helps me discern the Spirit's guidance in my teaching and research, she reads and critiques all of my research and syllabi, and is a continued positive source of inspiration for both my research and teaching. Thank you for sharing your life with me.

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Our two Sons are an endless source of nourishment and joy for me in our music making, drawing, walking, role-playing, dancing, fooling around, joking, hugging, cooking, learning, working, living...they enrich my life and this goodness spills over into my teaching and research. Thank you for the joy.

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The work ethic, honesty, and loyalty of my Father, the wide open heart of love and caring of my Mother, and the steadfast faith in God that both of them live are role models that I benefited from and strive to become. Thank you both for your support all of these years. 

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I had the privilege of living with both of my fraternal and maternal Grandparents, and various Uncles and Aunts, and visiting my great Grandmother, for about three weeks every summer from early childhood through my middle teens. The German-Russian stock that took root in the often harsh landscape North Dakota is a hearty one that positively shaped my values toward hard work, gusto, perseverance, land, faith, and family. I am grateful to all of them.

 

To all of my Ancestors...bless you and thank you.

 

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Above. Dr. B in his

"middle" academic years.

Above. Artist depiction of a number of "saints"

Above. Seth Godin's Ted Talk on:

Stop Stealing Dreams: What is School For?

Above. Tropical Island somewhere in the Pacific

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