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Today's Featured Biography

John Buzzell

I graduated in the bottom 10 of the class of ‘61; not the bottom 10%, the bottom 10. I was lazy, not stupid. Well maybe a little stupid. But in spite my regretful performance, I look forward to meeting my classmates from 45 years-ago. What great stories you must have to tell.

I married Marion Work (class of ‘63). We had three children before moving to Idaho in 1979. Our two daughters live in Boise, our son in Idaho Falls. We have five grandchildren.

Idaho Falls, where we live, is near two favorite tourist attractions - Yellowstone and the Tetons. We are close enough to picnic at Old Faithful; or leave the house quarter-past dark thirty, hike across the Tetons, suck down a huckleberry milkshake in Victor and get home late. We claim we have two seasons here - winter and two weeks when skiing isn’t so good. Like most Idahoans, our lives revolve around the outdoors, and beside the fact it has snowed here every month except August; we get warm dry weather.

I don’t regret getting old. I regret my mind telling my body to un-weight so my skis can turn, and my body refusing. I don’t mind that small weight a few Ibuprofens add to my hiking pack. I’d regret sore knee-joints more. Hiking my mountain bike up a too-steep trail is less regretful than a cardiac arrest. Rafting white water is not so bad. Reminds me of an old Bill Cosby routine, when a young Cosby plays handball against an old experienced player. While slow, the old man can anticipate every return and easily defeats a younger Cosby. I can read a rapid and set up in just a few strokes. I haven’t flipped a boat since last year.

Marion retired from Community Education in 2001, I from Argonne-West in 2002. When we're home, we volunteer. Marion’s one of the leaders at the local soup kitchen. I serve meals. It’s fun chatting with the regular - not so homeless. We both assist low-income individuals get their prescription med’s from manufacturer’s patient assistant programs. I organize a retirees cross-country ski every week from December to whenever. For two years, we worked as volunteer river rangers on the San Juan River in Utah near Four Corners. Last year, I helped recover the body of a drowned Navajo medicine man. The experience was like a chapter out of a Tony Hillerman novel. And, we traveled to Brazil in 2005 to pour a concrete roof on classrooms of a Methodisto Church in Anchieta.

I think about Coach John George often. His paddle was his bluff. He liked us. Of all our teachers I’d like to see him the most, to shake his hand and tell him how much I appreciate teachers like him.

Hey, I did finish college with a lot better grade average than high school.

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