{"id":1365,"date":"2022-07-22T17:20:33","date_gmt":"2022-07-22T17:20:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tomabate.com\/ruminations\/?p=1365"},"modified":"2022-12-22T20:40:26","modified_gmt":"2022-12-23T02:40:26","slug":"has-it-really-been-50-years-since-high-school","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tomabate.com\/ruminations\/has-it-really-been-50-years-since-high-school\/","title":{"rendered":"Has it really been 50 years since high school?"},"content":{"rendered":"

(Regis High School is a Jesuit-run institution for Catholic boys in the New York area who take an exam to win four-year scholarships. Other than removing some names I made no alterations. Tom) <\/em><\/p>\n

I\u2019ll arrive at the reunion on the red eye from San Francisco, after watching the youngest of my three children graduate high school. What a long, strange trip it\u2019s been! Let me recap the last 50 years.<\/p>\n

After Regis, I spent a year at NYU before dropping out and enlisting in the U.S. Navy. I ran a closed-circuit radio and television station aboard a ship that made port calls in the Philippines, Taiwan, Japan, and Hong Kong.\u00a0My shipmates hailed from all over the country. Several remain dear friends.<\/p>\n

After my enlistment ended, I put myself through UC Berkeley on the GI Bill. I majored in political science and minored in Mandarin. But I devoted most of my energy to working as a reporter and editor at the campus paper, the Daily Californian<\/em>. In 1979, I enjoyed 15 minutes of fame for helping reveal the so-called secret for building a hydrogen bomb. Fortunately, then-President Jimmy Carter decided not to press charges for violating federal secrecy laws punishable by up to 10 years in prison.<\/p>\n

It was at the Daily Cal<\/em> that I met my future wife. We were married in a \u201cBig Fat Greek Wedding\u201d attended by two classmates who had migrated separately to the San Francisco Bay Area, and a third who flew out for the occasion.<\/p>\n

My next stop was Eureka, a city on Northern California\u2019s redwood coast \u2013 outside the fallout zone in the event of a nuclear war. I co-founded a mom-and-pop typesetting shop and community newspaper and got involved in personal computing. I lived on five acres, drew water from a spring, felled trees, split firewood, and cultivated a garden.<\/p>\n

In 1990 I moved our growing family \u2013 our first son was born in 1989 \u2013 back to New York so I could attend the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism. We lived in Brooklyn, rent-free, in the basement suite at Hotel Mom, Dad having sadly died of heart failure a couple of years earlier. After grad school I landed a job as science writer for the San Francisco Examiner<\/em>.<\/p>\n

On my first day, an earthquake tore open a section of the San Andreas fault in the Mojave Desert, causing no damage but allowing me to write my debut story for the front page.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Our second child was born in 1993, shortly after our arrival in San Francisco, and the third followed a decade later.<\/p>\n

During my 18 years as a reporter and columnist in San Francisco, I would report on the emergence of the World Wide Web; interview Steve Jobs and other Silicon Valley luminaries; write about the decoding of the human genome; and cover the Great Recession. San Francisco being a popular destination for business junkets, classmates visited for professional events.<\/p>\n

But my life blew up in 2011. Years of personal excess and poor judgment culminated in divorce, firing, a nervous breakdown, heart attack, and unemployment. I was 57, the age at which my father had died. I got a second chance. I restored my health with bypass surgery, exercise, and lifestyle changes. I rebuilt my career by writing interesting and illuminating stories about science and the Bay Area community. I worked on rebuilding my relationships with my three amazing and very different children. Today, I am Papou (grandfather) to three beautiful girls, ages seven, five, and three. I\u2019m in a relationship with a woman I love. I am grateful but restless. Once my new graduate is settled at college I feel due for a new adventure.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile I indulge in nostalgic recollections of our Regis years. I remember our times together and look forward to reuniting at 55 East 84th<\/sup> Street.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A chatty and informal reminiscence shared at a 50th reunion.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1361,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1365","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-observations"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHas it really been 50 years since high school? - Tomabate<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tomabate.com\/ruminations\/has-it-really-been-50-years-since-high-school\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Has it really been 50 years since high school? - Tomabate\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A chatty and informal reminiscence shared at a 50th reunion.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/tomabate.com\/ruminations\/has-it-really-been-50-years-since-high-school\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Tomabate\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-07-22T17:20:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-12-23T02:40:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/tomabate.com\/ruminations\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/icon-reflections-observations.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Drea Sullivan\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Drea Sullivan\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tomabate.com\/ruminations\/has-it-really-been-50-years-since-high-school\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/tomabate.com\/ruminations\/has-it-really-been-50-years-since-high-school\/\",\"name\":\"Has it really been 50 years since high school? - Tomabate\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tomabate.com\/ruminations\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2022-07-22T17:20:33+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-12-23T02:40:26+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tomabate.com\/ruminations\/#\/schema\/person\/4c2bf0cd3904733f8168e6b1ba61c69e\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tomabate.com\/ruminations\/has-it-really-been-50-years-since-high-school\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/tomabate.com\/ruminations\/has-it-really-been-50-years-since-high-school\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tomabate.com\/ruminations\/has-it-really-been-50-years-since-high-school\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/tomabate.com\/ruminations\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Has it really been 50 years since high school?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tomabate.com\/ruminations\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/tomabate.com\/ruminations\/\",\"name\":\"Tomabate\",\"description\":\"Ruminations from a writer, grandfather, and veteran\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/tomabate.com\/ruminations\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tomabate.com\/ruminations\/#\/schema\/person\/4c2bf0cd3904733f8168e6b1ba61c69e\",\"name\":\"Drea Sullivan\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tomabate.com\/ruminations\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8ff8377856eb9632718164201a6197e23fdcf91b7313dc979ec63c6fa4afc587?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8ff8377856eb9632718164201a6197e23fdcf91b7313dc979ec63c6fa4afc587?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Drea Sullivan\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/tomabate.com\/ruminations\/author\/drea\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Has it really been 50 years since high school? - Tomabate","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/tomabate.com\/ruminations\/has-it-really-been-50-years-since-high-school\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Has it really been 50 years since high school? - Tomabate","og_description":"A chatty and informal reminiscence shared at a 50th reunion.","og_url":"https:\/\/tomabate.com\/ruminations\/has-it-really-been-50-years-since-high-school\/","og_site_name":"Tomabate","article_published_time":"2022-07-22T17:20:33+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-12-23T02:40:26+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1080,"height":1080,"url":"https:\/\/tomabate.com\/ruminations\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/icon-reflections-observations.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Drea Sullivan","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Drea Sullivan","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/tomabate.com\/ruminations\/has-it-really-been-50-years-since-high-school\/","url":"https:\/\/tomabate.com\/ruminations\/has-it-really-been-50-years-since-high-school\/","name":"Has it really been 50 years since high school? - Tomabate","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/tomabate.com\/ruminations\/#website"},"datePublished":"2022-07-22T17:20:33+00:00","dateModified":"2022-12-23T02:40:26+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/tomabate.com\/ruminations\/#\/schema\/person\/4c2bf0cd3904733f8168e6b1ba61c69e"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/tomabate.com\/ruminations\/has-it-really-been-50-years-since-high-school\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/tomabate.com\/ruminations\/has-it-really-been-50-years-since-high-school\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/tomabate.com\/ruminations\/has-it-really-been-50-years-since-high-school\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/tomabate.com\/ruminations\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Has it really been 50 years since high school?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/tomabate.com\/ruminations\/#website","url":"https:\/\/tomabate.com\/ruminations\/","name":"Tomabate","description":"Ruminations from a writer, grandfather, and veteran","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/tomabate.com\/ruminations\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/tomabate.com\/ruminations\/#\/schema\/person\/4c2bf0cd3904733f8168e6b1ba61c69e","name":"Drea Sullivan","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/tomabate.com\/ruminations\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8ff8377856eb9632718164201a6197e23fdcf91b7313dc979ec63c6fa4afc587?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8ff8377856eb9632718164201a6197e23fdcf91b7313dc979ec63c6fa4afc587?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Drea Sullivan"},"url":"https:\/\/tomabate.com\/ruminations\/author\/drea\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tomabate.com\/ruminations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1365","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tomabate.com\/ruminations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tomabate.com\/ruminations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tomabate.com\/ruminations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tomabate.com\/ruminations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1365"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/tomabate.com\/ruminations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1365\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1543,"href":"https:\/\/tomabate.com\/ruminations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1365\/revisions\/1543"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tomabate.com\/ruminations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1361"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tomabate.com\/ruminations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1365"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tomabate.com\/ruminations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1365"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tomabate.com\/ruminations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1365"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}