Blossoming Into Gold
Dear Cabrillo colleagues,
Diane Putnam wrote and asked if I would be willing to write to you about what I've been doing since I retired from Cabrillo in June 2011… she had heard I was doing some interesting things. Diane let me know that she was hoping to share stories of "life after Cabrillo," and offer advice for this year's retirees.
The first thing I will say is that I am "almost" as busy as I was when I was working, but a LOT less stressed. Here's a run down of what I've been working on.
Much has been happening with the book my sister Kathy Mekis Miller and I co-authored in 2009 through Capitola Book Company – Blossoms Into Gold: The Croatians in the Pajaro Valley. We had been asked to do numerous book presentations in the county, but then we received an invitation to speak in the Dubrovnik area of Croatia in fall 2011. Our invitation came from Matica Hrvatska (Croatia's oldest historical and cultural organization). They organized the event, brought in a professional Croatian/English translator, and asked the Director of the Dubrovnik State Archives to introduce us. As a result, we presented our research, our slides, and our book to the two hundred people in attendance. It was an incredible honor for us, and an opportunity my sister Kathy and I will never forget. For more information on this story, go to www.blossomsintogold.com where you can see slides, and watch a video about the event.
Then, last fall I received a phone call from a major writer in Dubrovnik asking if we would like to have our book translated into the Croatian language, and re-published there? He had read our book in English and thought it should be made available to everyone in the country. Our book is now being translated by a professor at the University of Zagreb, and it will be re-published this fall by Matica Hrvatska. As a result, Kathy and I will be heading back to Dubrovnik once again this September.
In the meantime, back here in California, Sandy Lydon asked if Kathy and I would like to co-teach a Cabrillo Extension class with him on the Croatian history of Watsonville. As a result, we have developed a new one-day walking tour class, Behind Packing House Doors: The Voices of Watsonville's Croatian Community, which we taught for the Cabrillo President's Circle on April 20th and through Cabrillo Extension on May 11th. The class was full, but we hope to offer it annually.
In addition to all of our book business, I have been a member of the UCSC Alumni Council board for six years, but now I have more time to commit to this organization. I am currently serving as the vice-president of the board, and I am enjoying my continued connections with UC Santa Cruz and the UC system.
The most meaningful work for me, however, is the work I continue to do on the annual Morton Marcus Memorial Poetry Reading series. We have an outstanding committee, and our goal is to continue to honor Mort by contracting excellent poets we want to introduce to the Santa Cruz County community each year – free of charge. In this way we are able to continue Mort's work, acknowledge the significant role poetry has played in our community's history, and maintain its influence in our county's culture. The reading alternates each year between Cabrillo College and UC Santa Cruz because Mort taught at Cabrillo for thirty years, and his poetry archive is housed at UC Santa Cruz. It also allows us to continue the historic link between our county's two institutions of higher education.
Palestinian-American poet, Naomi Shihab Nye will be our reader this year, and the reading will be held at UCSC on November 14th. These readings are funded by Ow Family properties; Poetry Santa Cruz and the Cultural Council of Santa Cruz County; UCSC Special Collections & Archives, and the UCSC Literature Department's Living Writing Series; Cabrillo College English Department; and Bookshop Santa Cruz.
My recommendations to you? To those of you who are considering retirement, start thinking now about the things you've always wanted to do. Start making lists, and dream a bit…once you've retired, you'll finally have the time to manifest all sorts of awaiting opportunities.
With warm regards to all of you,
Donna Mekis
P.S. Thanks Caroline for keeping the Honors Transfer Program strong and running smoothly!!
Life After Retirement: Allan Lönnberg and Julie Hanks