Kurt W. Wagner
ife stories. Ug! There are too many of those laying around, so I'm not going
to go into it in full, gruesome detail. However, I'll say a few basic things.
- I was born in Dallas in 1961. Dad worked for an electronics
company. I have a sister, Erica-Liis, 18 months older than I. Mom and Dad
did a fine job on us, not pushing us into molds and roles, and making sure
there were interesting things around for us to do, explore and experience.
I remember trips to Florida, camping in New Mexico, and a lot of time spent
travelling in VW campers, eating watermelon at roadside picnic tables.
- Dad changed careers at age 40, becoming a City Manager. We were living in Sanford, Central Florida, by then, and I was in second grade. I liked playing "fort" in the woods with my buddies, and was already soaking up everything I could learn about the Space Program. We moved about every four years from then on: to Live Oak, in North Florida, then to Trenton, SE Ohio, and then to Coolidge, Central Arizona. We stayed there long enough for me to have a full four years at high school and one year of college. I'm glad I got to spend those years in one place.
- Dad's career took us back to Florida; North Bay Village in the midst of Miami. I had a couple of years there, mainly enjoying the lifestyles and attending Miami-Dade Community college and deciding what I wanted to do with my life. Eventually, I settled on Anthropology and entered a program at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, where I lived in a dormitory. Mom and Dad, ever on the move, relocated back out west, to Aztec, NW New Mexico. After finishing a year at FAU, I packed up my VW Rabbit, and clattered out there, not yet ready to have a country between me and the folks. I was twenty-one, but not entirely self-sufficient yet..
- About 30 miles north of Aztec is the lovely town of Durango, CO. I settled in there, living with my cousin Dan and his wife Celia, and attending Fort Lewis College.
There was a great Anthro program, and life in Durango was easy to fall in
love with. After getting my BA in 1986, I stayed on, first managing a Waldenbooks
for awhile, then getting a job in the production of The
Durango Herald. Of course this was before its "online" days. I was one
of the first computer guys there, designing advertising on a Macintosh II,
and doing some of the first computer graphics for the news department. It
was a fine time.
- Around 1992, though, something else began to call, a feeling that though life in Durango was great, I was missing something going on in the world outside. Around that time I had some neighbors in the run-down little row of apartments on the Animas River a couple of miles south of town. Mostly drifting misfit types, the full story of those days we've dubbed Club Med de las Animas lies untold. Maybe one day one of us will confess. In the midst of those times I had a neighbor by the name of John Creech, a reference librarian at Fort Lewis,
who proceeded to divert my life onto another track. While sipping cervezas
on the apartment building's deck, watching the Animas River murmurring past,
the La Plata Mountains presiding over all, Creech eventually commented that
I was not really making the best use of myself, and might consider getting
into Library School.
- He didn't have to really urge me. It was more like a catalyst-thing. He wasn't telling me anything I'd not felt already. When I learned that the University of Arizona offered a program in Library Science, my mind was made up. I always loved Tucson, so before too long the UofA had accepted me, and I went about the painful job of unplugging myself from my home of a decade, and taking my leave of many good friends. The School of Library Science made me feel welcome, and I began a great program. The U of A is a fascinating place, and Tucson is also one of my favorite spots. I intend to go back!
- And so, here I am in New Jersey. I'm a reference librarian at William Paterson University of New Jersey. I'm publications coordinator, manage the library's computer lab, and I'm also the webmaster of the library pages. My job has as a main feature the thing I value most -- diversity. No two days are alike, and the complex of challenges and opportunities keeps me constantly occupied.
- In May 1998 I finished another Masters degree, in Communication, and soon plan to enter a PhD program, probably the School of Communication, Information and Library Studies at Rutgers University.
- The time from 1999 to the present has been tumultous to say the least. I met, fell in love with and married Victoria S. Heenan
on June 16, 2001 here in Hawthorne, NJ. I've been promoted to head of Library
Information Systems as well, and find it continually challenging and completely
absorbing. Victoria and I travelled
to London in November, 2000 and my first trip abroad was something mighty
special. You can see some of our other doings at this
photo page.
Well, during our first year of marriage Victoria and I bought
a house. Head over to the picture
page for some photos. We've been kept pretty busy being homeowners:
lots of appliances to buy, chores to do, and the summer brought on all of
the yard-related chores I hadn't had to do for nearly 20 years. Everything
goes in cycles I suppose.
In case you're wondering, I'm currently interested in:
- Dad changed careers at age 40, becoming a City Manager. We were living in Sanford, Central Florida, by then, and I was in second grade. I liked playing "fort" in the woods with my buddies, and was already soaking up everything I could learn about the Space Program. We moved about every four years from then on: to Live Oak, in North Florida, then to Trenton, SE Ohio, and then to Coolidge, Central Arizona. We stayed there long enough for me to have a full four years at high school and one year of college. I'm glad I got to spend those years in one place.
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