Re: anthro-l autobio

Ruby Rohrlich (rohrlich@GWIS2.CIRC.GWU.EDU)
Sat, 26 Nov 1994 22:57:43 -0500

Dear Janette: is this in answer to Hugh Jarvis's request for
autobiographical narrative? If so, I'll join you very soon. I'm much
impressed by your life until now, and hope you do get that full-time
job. On l2/4 in Atlanta,I'll be participating in a panel of older women
who will be telling the stories of all the obstacles they encountered to
achieving the doctorate in anthropology at midlife or later. And that's
the story I'll be telling to this group pretty soon. I wish you were
joining us. Best of luck. Ruby Rohrlich, Anthropology Dept. George
Washington University, Washington, D.C.
rohrlich@gwis2.circ.gwu.edu.........................On
Sat, 26 Nov 1994, Janette Wilson wrote:

> Born in Roswell,NM. My mom got tired of living in a one-bedroom house while
> raising five children and washing clothes, including my younger sister's
> diapers, on a washboard & so went out one day and secured not only a job that
> very same day but also a loan to buy property on which to build a house. Life
> with mom was never the same after that for my dad.
>
> My oldest brother, twelve years older than I, was a SF fan so I began reading
> SF early -- an early stimulus to my interest in things psychological and
> anthropological.
>
> After traveling down side roads -- well, I'm still doing that -- such as
> dealing with my feelings about my dad's illnesses (He was declared legally
> insane -- sort of a culmination of events of malaria, typhoid fever, brain
> concussions) and his sexism (He tried to pull me out of the 8th grade, as that
> was "sufficient" education for a girl.), being the moon in two marriages, etc.
> -I eventually finished my BA in psychology and MA in anthropology. I
> dedicated my thesis to my (youngest, older) brother, a local artist and
> muralist, in El Paso, Tx. He died in December 1991 at the age of 46 from a
> massive heart attack. My thesis was an ethnography of muralism in El Segundo
> Barrio, a community in South El Paso. Right now, I'm working (working?) on a
> Ph.D. in Curriculum & Instruction. Mostly, I'm scrounging up p-t jobs to pay
> bills. I dunno, sometimes I think I'm the quintessential late-bloomer: I'll
> bloom after I'm buried. I just hope I'm not senile by the time I finish the
> Ph.D. But, thanks to a lot of good friends, I'm muddling on.
>
> Interests obviously include SF; a friend and I founded a science fiction club
> in El Paso. The club has gone on to greater glory -- all I've done is maintain
> my membership, & my friend dropped out of the club. I also hosted a SF
> program on the El Paso Lighthouse for the Blind's Radio Reading Program but
> gave that up (temporarily) when I went back to college full time. If I can
> land a full time job again in El Paso, I hope to revive the SF program. Other
> interests include ceramics and making bassoon reeds -- which have also been on
> hold.
>