Distinguished Alumni

“The reality of what we are is often times found in the small snips, way down at the bottom of things.” Jean Shepherd

folklorist Richard M. Dorson

I interviewed former student Vickie Voller on videotape for IU’s Bicentennial Project and to go with the paper Airel Otero wrote about her in the Archives’ bridge collection.  In the late 1960s, after earning a degree from the University of North Dakota, she moved to the area with her husband, who was hired by Inland Steel.  For six years she taught art in Gary elementary schools and in 1976 received an M.S. degree in Education from IUN.  Vickie took a summer course with folklorist Richard Dorson, visiting from Bloomington to engage in research on steelworkers that became the basis for his book “Land of the Millrats.” Vickie had a memorable Sociology course with Bob Lovely and worked for Frank Parrish in Continuing Studies, which led to her assuming positions similar to his at other regional campuses.  In the summer of 1977 both Vickie and I, along with Toni and the kids, attended a weekend urban folklore conference at IU at which Jean Shepherd was the featured speaker.  Over drinks, Shepherd groused that the New York Times listed “In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash” on the bestseller list under nonfiction.  A newspaper correspondent for many years, Vickie reported on Shepherd’s two-and-a-half-hour, one-man show, the highlight of the IU conference. She wrote:

  Shepherd held the audience spellbound while everyone thought, “He’s talking about me.  I knew a kid named Schwartz, my teacher talked like that and had a blue Brillo pad for hair, and we used to have a white linoleum table with chips in our kitchen.”  He described the region: “The flickering of steel mills on the shore of Lake Michigan, drifting clouds of kerosene, a haze of blast furnace dust.  It never got dark in the region – just darker.”  Shepherd claimed he “got my first full lung of air when I left the region at 19 and joined the army” and indicated there were worse places to live: “Whiting makes Hammond look like Palm Beach.”  Shepherd credits the region for teaching him the ethic of life: “I move through the world like a fish moving through a river of inner tubes.  But I have no nostalgia for the region.  Does one have nostalgia for cold sores?”

above, Jean Shepherd; below, Vickie Voller in 2006

Voller served as president of IUN’s Alumni Association board and on its Gala planning committee.  In 2006 Chancellor Bruce Bergland presented her with the Alumni Association President’s Award.  Near the end of the interview I got Vickie to talk about playing bridge and pressed her for details about an advice column she wrote for the Post-Tribune, “Ask Ollie,” written from the point of view of a Shih Tzu dog.  She presently is board president of the Humane Society of Northwest Indiana, and she’s scheduled to do “Ask Ollie” spots on PBS to raise awareness of Humane Society programs and needs.  

 Wayne Carpenter and Kylie Duhamell

Bridge players at Woodland Park; from left, Steve Watson, Laverne Niksch, Lou Nimnicht, Wayne Carpenter

IUN student Kylie Duhamell began corresponding with Wayne Carpenter on September 17, 2017, asking him to participate in her bridge project.  Later that day, he replied: “Hi, Kylie, nice to hear from you.  I am open to anything to help you.  I am the bridge director/manager at the Beach Bridge Club which meets every Tuesday at Woodland Park in Portage from 11 a.m. to 3:30. What would you like me to do?”  Kylie made arrangements to meet Wayne at Woodland Park and asked whether she could take photos during the game.  Wayne replied: “Hi Kylie, yes you can take pictures and it will be great to meet you.  I get to the park building by 10 a.m. because I set up the game area, make coffee etc.  We usually play upstairs.  About what time do you think you will get there so I can look out for you? Do you know where Woodland Park is?” Kylie had class until noon and had never been to Woodland Park, but after getting lost a little bit on the way, she arrived at Woodland Park.  Below are Kylie’s journal entries of that day and subsequent interaction with Wayne Carpenter

September 26: I went inside the main building and asked the lady at the front desk where the bridge game was taking place.  She told me right upstairs. There I met Wayne and observed some hands being played. We moved from table to table and I got to see them up close. Wayne kept reminding me that even though the game is competitive, it is still for fun. Wayne is a ruby life master, having accumulated over 1,500 master points. He gave me a couple different slips to help understand the game and a traveling score sheet to record how one did on each hand. Wayne also gave me a ACBL standard yellow card. I had a lot of fun watching these games. Each partner seemed to know how the other played.  Wayne said that his uncle introduced him to bridge and that he has been partners with his cousin Laverne Niksch for over 50 years. As I left, I realized that I did not get any pictures. That was okay because I was planning on going again.  Later that day, Wayne sent me an article titled “Bridge - Not Chess - Is the Ultimate War Game.”  It made the point that during the war soldiers played bridge to pass the time. 

September 27: I emailed Wayne and asked him how his game went in Gary. He replied, “Two bad days in a row!!  Oh well, that's bridge. Some days other people just plain do better.” 

October 10: I observed the game at Woodland Park again. Lots of players remembered me and said Hi! Afterwards, I got to interview Wayne about his life. He was born and raised in Hobart and, as he said, “Once a Brickie, always a Brickie!”  Wayne was the youngest in a family of 5. After graduating from IUN, he worked at U.S. Steel for 37 years as a supervisor. Wayne moved to Chesterton about 26 years ago shortly after marrying wife Janet.  After he retired in 2003, they adopted a daughter Maya from Guatemala.  He said, “This was the best thing Jan and I have ever done. We are so blessed to have Maya in our lives.”  Wayne also told me about a scene in the 1979 James Bond spy thriller “Moonraker” starring Roger Moore where Bond tricked Hugo Drax by setting the cards up a certain way. Wayne tried the same thing on his uncle, who fell for it.  When Wayne confessed what he did, the uncle told him that it was still good card playing!  Wayne sent me home with an article about actor Omar Sharif, once ranked among the 50 best players in the world. Omar says in this article, “The real question is why I spend so much time making movies when I could be playing bridge.”

October 12: Wayne met me at IUN and brought cards with him. He gave me different bidding scenarios between partners. It was a little difficult playing hands because we didn’t have the opponents, but we made it work, and it was fun! He left me with a sheet to guide me when I play. I couldn’t thank Wayne enough!  He did a great job helping me understand the game and even gave me a set of my very own bridge cards.  I not only learned useful bridge techniques, I also found out interesting things about a Region native.

In response to my inquiry, Wayne Carpenter emailed me that he earned a BA in Speech and Theater while working full-time at US Steel and, in his words, remembers fondly the nine years it took me to graduate.  He wrote: “Robert Foor was the head of the department at that time and very helpful to me.  If you ever had the pleasure of hearing him read Shakespeare, you would never forget him.”

 above, 1953 IU grad Robert Foor at age 89 (2012); below, Lonnie Cotner

At Hobart Lanes, the Portage Four swept the Electrical Engineers despite all four of us bowling above average (in my case a 461 series).  In game one opponent Lonnie Cotner rolled a 226, a full 85 pins over his average, and quipped, “Eventually the real Lonnie will show up.”  He did inevitably tail off but still finished with a series in the upper 500s.  His teammate Lorenzo Rodriguez, who throws both arms in the air in disgust whenever he leaves a ten-pin, only made the gesture a couple times, as he got more than his normal share of strikes.  My only double came in the final frame of the afternoon when the outcome was no longer in doubt.

My Steel Shavings publisher, The Papers, is ready to go to press with volume 47 just a week after receiving the finished product.  On the cover: distinguished IU alumnus and longtime IUN adjunct professor Richard Gordon Hatcher, five-term mayor and a Gary legend.  The background color will be navy blue, similar to the 2003 issue on the Postwar years in the Region, 1945-1953.  On the cover of volume 34, was Red Scare victim Katherine Hyndman, incarcerated in Crown Point for a year after protesting American entry into the Korean War.  Many former students contributed, including Kevin Clutter, Lorie Kovach, and Samuel A. Love.  I dedicated the volume to “Old Lefties” who kept the faith during a time of repression, including Jim Balanoff, Lydia Grady, Art Daronatsy, Ruth Norrick, Claude Lightfoot, Thelma Marshall, Cash Malis, and Joe Gyurko.  I concluded: “Class-conscious activists for civil rights, trade unionism, and peace, they realized the need for a fundamental reordering of wealth and power if the nation were to remain true to its historic ideals.”

At an IU Bicentennial brainstorming meeting with representatives from Bloomington, it was decided to do features on the Calumet Regional Archives and faculty efforts to preserve the dunes.  On hand were candy bars adorned with the IU Bicentennial logo.

As Trump approved the release of a biased Republican-majority House committee report by Devin Nunes over the objections of FBI director Christopher Wray and the Justice Department that makes use of classified materials out of context in order to impugn the integrity of the FBI, former director James Comey released this caustic statement: “All should appreciate the FBI speaking up.  I wish more of our leaders would.  But take heart: American history shows that, in the long run, weasels and liars never hold the field, so long as good people stand up.  Not a lot of schools or streets named for Joe McCarthy.”

 Ray Smock in 2012 celebrating Groundhog Day

Ray Smock wrote:

      The much anticipated and ballyhooed release of the Nunes defense of Donald Trump can be summed up in one word: Innuendo. If you were teaching a class in innuendo, this would be the introductory course. It is totally lacking in substance or legal standing. The clear purpose is to smear everyone who gathered information, directly or indirectly, that relates to the Russian probe. It is designed to smear the FBI for bias. It blames Hillary Clinton for funding the so-called “Steele Dossier” that has been eating at Donald Trump since reports of its existence were leaked in late October 2016.  It was that dossier, a series of memos that tied Trump and his campaign to Russian activities that first brought to public attention the possible collusion of the Trump campaign with Russian agents.

      Nothing is revealed that suggests the FISA process was abused. This is a smear job with no content that would hold up in any court of law, or even in the court of public opinion. I expect if the Democratic members of the House Intelligence Committee are allowed to release their report, we will see a larger context that will put the Nunes memo in even worse light. 

      Shame on Chairman Devin Nunes for acting with such partisanship about a matter that is of deep national concern. And shame on Speaker Paul Ryan for letting this go as far as it has. Devin Nunes should be removed immediately from his role as chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. This committee has every right to conduct oversight of the FBI, the Department of Justice, and all our intelligence gathering agencies, but this oversight should always be conducted to keep America safe, to be a watchdog of abuses in the intelligence community, and to investigate for the purpose of drafting laws that guard against abuse. This memo shows no abuse of power in the FBI, only the suggestion of it for partisan gain.

      What Chairman Nunes has done is to ham-handedly try to protect President Trump during a vital, ongoing investigation. In doing so he comes very close to violating the rule of law and engaging in possible obstruction of justice. He clearly has violated all the regular procedures of his own committee. Since Devin Nunes was part of the Trump transition team, maybe he too has something to hide. But this is just innuendo on my part.

On a lighter note, this from Jim Spicer:

    A guy is 86 years old and loves to fish.
 He was sitting in his boat when he heard a voice say, “Pick me up.”
    He looked around and couldn't see any one. He thought he was dreaming when he heard the voice say again, “Pick me up.” He looked in the water and there, floating on the top was a frog.
    The man said, “Are you talking to me?”
    The frog said, “Yes, I'm talking to you. Pick me up. Then, kiss me and I'll turn into the most beautiful woman you have ever seen. I'll make sure that all your friends are envious and jealous because you will have me as your bride.”
    The man looked at the frog, reached over, picked it up carefully, and placed it in his front breast pocket. Then the frog said, "What, are you nuts? Didn't you hear what I said? I said kiss me and I will be your beautiful bride."  He opened his pocket, looked at the frog and said, “Nah, at my age I'd rather have a talking frog.”