Terry Shults
Odessa, TX
Last updated:
03/10/2007
Showing a rare book of 1798 U.S. political
satire to reporters
|
After LHS
I attended LHS my junior year only,
while my dad was working on his PhD at KU. I was born in
Lawrence in 1947, when my dad was finishing his master's in
math. We also spent 2-3 summers there in the 60s. I really
grew up in the panhandle of Oklahoma, where I graduated from
Guymon High School and recently went back there for that 40th
reunion (class of around 140, 18 deceased; 50+ present with
20+ spouses).**
After high school, I got a BA from Oklahoma Baptist
University; an MA and PhD in English from the University of
Louisville; and an MLS library degree with a government documents
specialty at Rutgers. I was a National Merit finalist, and
received undergrad and graduate school awards for creative
writing.
Employment
I taught college English for 20
years in Kentucky, Indiana, Oklahoma, Alabama and New Jersey--the middle four full-time for good money.
I've also worked as a farm hand, dishwasher, poolroom
bouncer, great Dane kennel man, boiler room ticket salesman
for police charities, church music director/organist,
technical writer for an optical company, and census
troubleshooter. Then I saw the light and sought honest work as a librarian.
Since 9/11, 2001, I've been the head of Technical Services at
the J. Conrad Dunagan Library of the University of Texas of
the Permian Basin, specializing in management of the archives.Hearth & Home
Charlene, my wife of 36 years, is my
library director. We met as undergrads. Her academic field is
Western Europe, pre-Nazi Germany. She is even more of a rock
'n roll and sci-fi fan
than I am, preferring the classic, jazz and hard-boiled/noir stuff.
The Other Stuff
I am the founding member of the 50-voice,
non-profit Allegro Chorale and Orchestra, Inc., for which I serve on
the executive committee and co-author program notes with
the maestra (see and hear it at
http://www.musicallegro.com).
I was named Volunteer of the Year at a giant
mental hospital's staff and patient libraries, holding a reading club in
a locked ward, etc. My biggest thrill, yet to come, would be
to see the publication of my novel trilogy.
My Memories of LHS
Fond memories include
AA English with Mr. Wright and the gang; R. Wayne Nelson's Red
and White's; and team taught history with Jerry Strimmel, Bob
Fulton, Mr. Weingard, et al. I still cringe when I think of,
as a result of a schedule problem, flabby young me having to
take advanced gymnastics with the state
champs!
**Sorry I can't make the LHS
40th, but I am interested in keeping up with those I knew in
Lawrence. About 10 years back, I tracked down English teacher
Bob Wright and he put me in touch with Virginia Wulfkuhle.
Virginia and I have been e-mailing ever since, partly because
we are in overlapping lines of work (she's the Public
Archeologist of Kansas and I have Texas archeological
documents and books in my archives, so I deal with history
profs who dig and preserve). |
