About Me — Paul Gardner
Writing is a way to keep learning & teaching
I was born in 1949 to Paul Gardner and Dorothy (Dody) Mae Thomas.
My dad was a chemical engineer who in retirement created a line of bread products he sold at local farmers’ markets. My mom, a homemaker after marriage, repeated often the story of how she became a head bank teller during WWII because of her college degree. And “she was the finest bridge player I knew,” said a physician friend at her funeral.
Paul Gardner Sr. died of sinus cancer in 1993 at 71. He lived 7 years after doctors gave him 7 months. Dody Gardner died 24 years later walking two miles a day until she no longer knew who she was.
I come from strong people.
In 2018 I retired from 40 years of college teaching. I taught politics, a subject I failed in high school. The picture above is from an alumni trip to Ireland and Northern Ireland Rebecca and I co-hosted.
In the spring of 2020 and the fall of 2021, we lived in Timișoara, Romania where I taught politics as a Fulbright Scholar. And Rebecca studied, learned, and used Romanian as we traveled around this tragic and beautiful country.
Rebecca (who retired from health care management in 2018) has three children, one son and two daughters, and I have a son. We met online a decade ago.
We both got lucky.
We live in two small towns in Iowa, USA.
Three years ago I started writing a blog. It can be found at paulmuses.com
In June 2022 I joined Medium. Both platforms provide an audience for stories I hope will be useful to readers.
Why do I write? I think it’s because writing helps me learn about the world and organize my thoughts about what I see out there. And I like sharing with others.
Writing is a way to keep teaching.
