On a Wayward Waddle Through the White Willows

About the Book

I wrote Wayward Waddle primarily as an undergraduate at the University of Oregon, around 1973-74. Vietnam was still going on but I received a high lottery number thus escaping the draft and general concern about things political. Rather I was into yoga. The poetry was still pretty experimental. I’ve cut out the poetry that really sucked. The remainder has gone through several incarnations. First they were written in green ink, then typed, eventually word processed and punctuated. I don’t labor over poems trying to get them just right, rather trusting the original creative act. Of course I tinker. Some poems are actually old fashioned poems while most are more like stream of consciousness. “Waddle” because the U. of O. mascot is the duck, plus that year saw a big showdown on the track between Prefontaine and Waddle..

About the Author

I was born in Oregon. But Dad got drafted so we lived at the various navy bases on the west coast (USA). I have 5 siblings. Camp Pendleton was a lot of fun for a bunch of Navy brats. I attended East Bremerton High School and Goethe Gymnasium in Regensburg, Germany as an AFS exchange student. I attended Portland State University earning a B.S. (Biology), an M.A.T. (Biology), a B.A. (Psychology) and a M.S.T. (Chemistry). I taught high school science in Portland, Oregon and some time in Honduras. I tried medical school several years but quit that. Now I am retired and only work part time.