From: The Troll House (vwhearncat@peoplepc.com)
Date: Sat Aug 10 2002 - 19:24:28 EDT
I, too, am largely a daily lurker on this list, but read it (mostly) with
interest. By attending ASA annual mtgs. with my husband Walt, as well as
reading the ASA newsletter, both before and after his 24 years as its
editor, I have gotten to know many ASA members and think they're as
admirable as any men and women I know, both professionally and as
Christians.
BACKGROUND
I resonated with ASA member Janet Rice's recent description of herself
as having grown up in the midwest, which in turn influences how she looks
and behaves, as well as how she sees the world in general. I was born and
grew up in southern Wisconsin, was a good student at my junior and senior
high school--especially loved my two years each of Latin and Spanish--was
very active in music, and graduated as one of two valedictorians in my
class. I then won a music scholarship to the University of Wisconsin,
Madison, but dropped out of music school because I didn't like my piano
teacher. Partly because of spiritual concerns, I transferred as a sophomore
to Otterbein College in Ohio, then the church school of my denomination, and
soon became a Christian there when I came to understand the gospel through a
dorm Bible study and began attending Inter-Varsity conferences. I took
science courses in botany and ornithology, but not astronomy (in which I was
interested), realizing that I didn't have the necessary math courses as
prerequisites.
PROFESSIONAL
I taught high school--Spanish/German/English--for four years, but
realized that my hard work was not particularly reflected in the
accomplishments of the majority of my students. I then wrote to Joe Bayly of
Inter-Varsity Press about the possibility of working in IV's literature
department and was soon added to the staff in Philadelphia both to work on
books and as assistant editor of IV's student magazine, HIS. I came to
understand that under Joe's mentorship, and because of my earlier study of
Latin in h.s., I was essentially a "born editor"--and I have remained that
professionally ever since. After seven years with Inter-Varsity, I became
managing editor of all the publications of the Christian Medical Society,
then in Oak Park, IL.
I married Walt Hearn in 1966, whom I met through his writing for HIS,
articles that I without fail regarded as works of genius. That was
especially true of his somewhat humorous, gently satirical "Higher Critical
Study," which we published in HIS, in which he "proved" that he was NOT the
author of a long poem actually written by him ("Scientist's Psalm," very
widely reprinted), which had appeared in the magazine a few months before.
After his many years as a tenured professor of biochemistry at Iowa
State University, and a year of "faculty leave" at the University of
California in Berkeley, we together decided that he would make a major
career change, we would return to Berkeley, and live a new life as writers
and editors. Since then we have worked as editors on close to 200 books for
a variety of publishers, the best known of which are Richard Foster's
"Celebration of Discipline" and Josh McDowell's "More Than a Carpenter."
Doing that kind of editing, I quickly sensed I could probably do as well
as, if not better than, some of the books we had worked on behind the
scenes, and eventually I had three books of my own published: one on family
life ("What They Did Right," Tyndale), one on the role of women in the
church ("Our Struggle to Serve," Word), and "Just As I Am: Journal Keeping
for Spiritual Growth," Revell/Baker). All are now out of print, but still
available at exorbitant prices through used booksellers on the internet. I
was co-editor with Jon Buell on "Darwinism: Science or Philosophy?"
(Foundation for Thought and Ethics), which is still in print--although Walt
is generally assumed to be the Hearn referred to on the spine and title page
of that book! I was also the designer of ASA's "Teaching Science in a
Climate of Controversy."
In the mid '70s, Walt and I were both on the founding board of a small
Christian study center, New College Berkeley, and have both taught various
courses there. In particular, I have led some 70 journal-keeping workshops
through NCB, its popularity a surprise to all concerned. Although we say we
are semi-retired, it doesn't feel like it. We are both so busy.
Since becoming a Christian, I have had a strong sense of my/our need for
God's guidance, both short- and long-term, knowing that almost any decision
or choice facing us must be made with only partial knowledge. We are
overwhelmingly thankful for the Lord's leading and goodness in our lives--in
which the ASA has played so significant a part.
The Troll House
Berkeley
510-527-3056
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.4 : Sat Aug 10 2002 - 19:58:27 EDT