1983

An invitation for a seminar on earthquakes by Ken Hudnot titled "Rox Clamantis," together with recent hoopla surrounding the 100th anniversary of the 1906 San Francisco quake, spurred me to order an earthquake survival kit. While most California residents tend to avoid thinking about earthquakes, Ken tackles them head on. As a research geophysicist for the U.S. Geographical Survey in Pasadena, he studies earthquakes for a living. Since receiving his Ph.D. from Columbia in 1989, he has published more than 65 scientific papers. In addition, he recently finished a special project to design a new signal, called L1C, that is to be broadcast by all of the GPS satellites in the future, beginning in about 2012. This new signal will enable GPS to increase its speed and accuracy, for example under trees and even indoors in some cases. He is on the faculty at California Institute of Technology as a visiting associate in geology. Fellow geologist Dana Coyle (Penn '83) married him in 1987, after being introduced by their mutual friend David McCormmick'84, who is also a geologist. As Ken says, "One could say it's been a 'rock-solid' marriage!" Ken's extracurricular time includes coaching his son's Litde League team and occasionally skiing. With three kids ages 15,12 and 10, Ken and his wife spend a lot of time on the road transporting them. Ken predicts that the cell phone application of GPS will make it easier to find our kids and get them where they need to go.

Along with earthquakes, another inevitable event that most people avoid thinking about is death. Jim mentioned John Fanestil's book, Mrs.Hunter's Happy Death, in the last column, but since I just finished it thought I'd elaborate on it a little. Fanestil weaves an account of treatises from the 18th and 19th-century with spiritual passages and moving accounts of his own parishioners and their approach to life and death. His book has been widely heralded as a groundbreaking work. "Not since the work of Elisabeth Kubler-Ross three decades ago has there been such a seminal work in the field," says Dr. Robert W. Edgar of the National Council of Churches USA. "Mrs. Hunter'sHappy Death is more than an engaging and creative treatment of death. It is a ringing affirmation of life lived with faith, love, joy and hope," according to Bishop Kenneth L. Carder of Duke University Divinity School. Pastoral assignments have included United Methodist churches in Anaheim and Calexico.Mrs. Hunter's Happy Death can be found in the self-help section of bookstores or you can order it from Amazon. I recommend it both for its inspiring message and for its interesting perspective on the history of attitudes toward death. John and his wife, Jennifer, and children Ellen (11) and Jacob (5) moved back to his hometown of San Diego two years ago, where he is currently working full time on his next book.

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