Photo courtesy of LeRoy and Patsy White

This section highlights a local person of interest and admiration, a person whose achievements, manner, leadership, and/or character distinguish them.  If you know people we should include, please apprise us at editor@candor.news, and we will interview them for future issues of Candor. In your submission, include the person’s name, noteworthy traits and accomplishments, and their contact information.

In this issue, we are highlighting LeRoy White

Wichita Tour Stop

After meeting his first love, surfing, in San Diego, (his first home), LeRoy White was introduced by his sister to his life’s passion, Patsy, a resident of Park City who migrated to San Diego. For over four decades, the two ventured across the U.S., Europe, and other parts of the world during a journey dominated by Formula One racing.

What separates you from other racing vehicle fabricators?

I began building surfboards by shaping Styrofoam bodies covered with fiberglass. I’ve created monocoques, tubs (the structure supporting the exterior of a vehicle) using fiberglass and carbon fiber for race cars, and structures for motorbikes, speed boats, and even airplanes. I invented and modified tools that were necessary to get the job done, especially when time and funds were short. I learned to produce tight welds with a TIG welder, something that came in handy as race day approached. I also participated in the Automotive X Prize where the Edison2 vehicle our team created won first place.

How did you get started as a fabricator?

 In my early 20s I was selected to enter a mechanic’s apprenticeship program at Porsche Pacific in Culver City, California, This is when it became clear to me that I was not a mechanic. I was ‘60s hippie who then roamed the Pacific Northwest for a few years. I didn’t really find my talent until 1971; upon reaching England, looking  for a new adventure, I met Ken Tyrrell, a wonderful father image that I never knew or had. Quiet spoken and a big man who you could only love and respect, he made a phone call to MARCH Engineering in Bicester, England. I had no idea what a fabricator was, and much less what he did. That experience inspired me to come back to California, and by 1978, Peter Gregg and the Brumos Racing Team won at Daytona in a  Porsche 935/77 that I’d fabricated. Now I was hooked and became more deeply involved with American Open-Wheel (Indy Car) racing.

Who are some other big-time racing teams/drivers you worked for or with?

In terms of Formula One, Penske, Frank Williams, Parnelli Jones, Dan Gurney, Emerson Fittipaldi, Don Purdonne, Jackie Stewart, , Niki Lauda, and James Hunt. I worked with Michael Waltrip helping build NASCAR vehicles. Both of the movies, Rush, and Ford vs. Ferrari really describe well the era I remember. While traveling and working, I met Burt Reynolds, who became both a boss and friend, Clint Eastwood, John Denver, George Harrison, Steve McQueen – they were all just regular people, living their lives. When I attended UCLA in the late 1980s, hoping to change careers, I met several people well-known in the film industry. The pay was low, though, and I had to get back into car racing to make ends meet.

What did Patsy do while you were helping build race cars?

Patsy worked at The Four Horseshoes bar in Reading, Berkshire, UK, she helped me build cars, we were often together when I traveled to job sites, but too often separated. Patsy was hired by ABC and ESPN to provide information during racing events, so both of us were working within the industry for several years.

What brought you to Wichita?

For Patsy, it was a boomerang effect, she’s back with family. For me, my health isn’t what it used to be, so Patsy and I decided to locate back to where she has people to support her, and us. I don’t know that much about Wichita, or the Midwest, so I’m eager to learn more about this region’s history and cultural traditions. I hope to continue my love of photography, I’m planning to spend time looking through the thousands of photos I’ve already taken to help me remember all the good times we’ve experienced.

Photo courtesy of Eric Lamp

This section highlights a local person of interest and admiration, a person whose achievements, manner, leadership, and/or character distinguish them.  If you know people we should include, please apprise us at editor@candor.news, and we will interview them for future issues of Candor. In your submission, include the person’s name, noteworthy traits and accomplishments, and their contact information.

In this issue, we are highlighting Eric Lamp

How did you get established in Wichita and what keeps you here? 

 I’m a native of Wichita and spent most of my formative years here. Growing up, we lived in St. Louis in the early ’70s and then ended up graduating high school in Florence, Colorado, but I came back to Wichita for college, where I attended Friends University. There I met Michelle, whom I later married. What keeps me in Wichita are the amazing people!

As you look back over your life, highlight a couple of your most satisfying accomplishments or contributions; and explain why.

I think that raising, with my wife, four children into adults, whom I truly enjoy spending time with, would be both an accomplishment and a contribution. It was a significant challenge for sure, but mostly because I “overparented” for way too long. Once I became more engaged in who they were rather than who I thought they should be, the process became much more enjoyable. 

What have been the happiest, most fulfilling times of your life?

For me, probably most of the fulfilling times in my life were not always the happiest. I have found that pursuing things that were meaningful, though difficult, resulted in a more fulfilling outcome than many of the things that made me “happy.”  Perhaps, happiness is more of an “upon reflection” issue. 

Favorite Wichita landmark?

I would have to say Century II is my favorite Wichita landmark. I love architecture and I’m enamored with the Frank Loyd Wright structures that we have, and the protégés of Frank Lloyd Wright who built several buildings here in Wichita. When I lived in Berkeley and went to a conference across the bay in Marin County at the Civic Center, that venue was a Frank Lloyd Wright that looks, in part, almost identical to Century II. I’ve had an opportunity to tour the Alan Lamb house as well as the Education Building on the campus of WSU. 

Life is full of teachers and lessons. What are some key lessons that you learned early to great eventual advantage?

I think one of the earliest lessons I learned was how powerful it was to have people around you who believed you were capable of success. It’s often very difficult for us to hear positive things, however, especially when we’re young, I think it’s incredibly influential when we have people we trust who believe in us. I do my best to pass that on to other young people; it’s not difficult to believe in someone more than they believe in themselves, especially when they’re capable. More recently I’ve learned to listen to other people with an honorable curiosity, to try to understand where a person is coming from and ideally learn something from their experience or life.

In what most significant and non-physical ways have you changed throughout your adult life? 

Learning to navigate life at a much lower stress level has been a significant change. And more recently, likely because of the pandemic, I began to slow down the pace at which I commit myself.

Would you be willing to share a set of circumstances that required you to dig deep to do what was right or what was necessary?

I left my first two jobs in optometry as a result of conflicts with my employers who were difficult to navigate. In both cases, I left without another job offer which took a lot of faith. Looking back, they were both good decisions, just very stressful. 

Tell us about the last really good book you read.

I’ll share two. The last one I read that was delightful was Anxious People by Frederik Backman. It’s a fascinating journey into human nature and how circumstances can affect us. He’s a fantastic writer and I found myself laughing out loud and weeping sometimes within a few pages. The second book that was transformative for me was The Righteous Mind by Jonathan Haidt. He’s a psychologist and professor at NYU His writing is about moral foundations and how we come to believe what we believe is right or wrong. It changed how I listen and understand other people, especially those I disagree with. 

In this difficult season of the pandemic, did you learn or have reinforced anything about yourself? About others?

I’ve learned that not everyone has an extensive background in science and that people tend to listen primarily to people they trust. Whether the people they trust have the best information sometimes can be problematic, especially if there is a profit motive involved. Since the pandemic began I’ve probably had over 5,000 conversations with different individuals in Wichita about it and I’ve been astounded by the variance of information and misinformation that I’ve encountered. As I have lost several dozen patients to COVID, I’ve been saddened by how dangerous misinformation can be. 

Any life regrets?

I have very few. As I look back on my life, most of the things that I would have considered a regret turned out to be valuable life lessons that helped shape who I am. However, one that comes to mind would be that I wish I would’ve asked my mom more questions while she was still with us. I feel like I spent a lot of time when I was with her talking; instead of listening.

What will be a hopeful path to Wichita‘s future wellbeing?

I think if we were to start interacting with each other as if we had met while traveling in another country it would be a good start. That connectivity that occurs when we see somebody with a Wichita State shirt while we’re in Southern California is taken for granted when we’re both in Wichita. I guess starting with what connects us, what we have in common, our shared interests and values, rather than what we differ on. I believe that would advance wellbeing for all of us. 

Photo courtesy of Envision

This section highlights a local person of interest and admiration, a person whose achievements, manner, leadership, and/or character distinguish them.  If you know people we should include, please apprise us at editor@candor.news, and we will interview them for future issues of Candor. In your submission, include the person’s name, noteworthy traits and accomplishments, and their contact information.

In this issue, we are highlighting Teresa Houston

Some may argue that the past 19 months, since the pandemic reared its ugly head by closing down much of the world, is the most difficult time period of their lives. Not being able to gather in the workplace, socially, or even with extended family has unsettled us, made us feel that nothing is normal. For Teresa Houston, Director of the Envision Child Development Center, her journey through life begs the question: What does normal look like?

What are some stories from your childhood?

I’m a native Wichitan, very proud to be a Wichitan. I went to Buckner, Chisholm Trail, and then I was bused to McCormick Elementary my last year, a very good experience. I had the most wonderful teachers. I remember one of my teachers was Mrs. Paris, and her husband was a horticulturist at Wichita State. Back in the day, you could go to a teachers’ house, and I went to Mrs. Paris’ and her whole back yard was beautiful, so we got different experiences from different teachers.

One year when I attended Chisholm Trail, my mom cut my hair off, leaving it shorter than I liked. My teacher, Mrs. Reado, saw how upset my haircut made me.  She brought in two of the Wichita State Women’s basketball players who both had short afros, just like mine.  They made me feel pretty. That’s the kind of supportive experiences I want my students to have here (at Envision). 

When did you lose your vision?

When I was 15 I thought I had the flu, or pneumonia.  I lost all vision at that time. I went to the emergency room and they did a spinal tap. The next day, I could see, but I had lost all of my peripheral vision. At the time of my illness, my mother remarried and left me behind.  I felt like a “throwaway kid.”  Ron and Karen Holt took me in and gave me a home. They saw me through treatment of pseudo tumor cerebri and eventual surgery which placed a lumbar puncture shunt to consistently drain fluid from my brain. (This was the cause of my visual impairment.) During this time, I became a high school dropout. The shunt allowed me to feel a little bit of normalcy, but with the fluid on my brain I had horrible headaches. When I was 16 I moved into my own apartment and began attending Dunbar Adult Center (Wichita Vocational Technical School) program studying childcare occupations. I completed my education and earned a certificate.

Were you able to have a normal life as an adult?

I am a mother of twins and married a wonderful man by the name of Trevon Houston. Once I got married, we had a little more stability, and he encouraged me to continue with my education. After leaving Dunbar, I was sent to Envision where I met Frank Marlar who taught me how to use a computer. Each day I would cry, but he helped me to earn an “A” in my Microcomputer class at Cowley County Community College. I earned my Associates degree at Cowley County, and then studied counseling at Newman University where I specialized in Substance Abuse and Childhood Development. I have my Masters from Friends in Marriage and Family Therapy. My vision continued to decline and I resisted learning a use a cane. I wanted to look “normal.” It wasn’t until I was 40 that I began to use a cane consistently.  Now when my students tell me that they don’t want to use a cane, I encourage them to utilize the cane to gain empowerment and independence.  When I began working at Envision in 2010, I continued to lose more vision. I went to Dr. Dickerson at the Abay Neuroscience Center and he placed a VP shunt.  (The LP shunt had been removed 15 years prior). From that time to now, I have lost the rest of my vision. I think that gradual vision loss has spoiled me because I know what pink, blue, and purple look like. I know what pictures look like, and TV. What bothers me is that I don’t know what the current famous people look like. 

What is different in the workplace for visually impaired employees?

I use JAWS, which is an expensive screen reader. Most companies don’t see blind or visually impaired employees as an asset. They don’t realize what skills we possess and what we bring to the table. 

As a director, it is important to me to maintain a diverse environment for staff and students to see themselves represented. 

How is educating visually impaired students better today than when you were 15?

We want to teach young people to be empowered, independent and a strong self-advocate. We want our students to be confident in their abilities and strive towards greatness. Technology has allowed access for all students to enrich their performance in any area. 

What are the most satisfying parts of your job at Envision?

What I enjoy the most is watching the children throughout their journey here at ECDC. From the Nursery to graduating in Preschool, seeing the growth and accomplishment is what I love. I love the community we have created within our center. We have terrific relationships with our families and have cultivated an important support system. 

It is important to me that we be visible in the community. Many people do not know that we’re here for the blind and visually impaired child. Having community partnerships allows us the opportunity to reach more children in need. 

My goal is that no child enters kindergarten without an early education. I would like for people to know, and utilize, ECDC as a resource. 

I plan on being here a long time. 

Photo courtesy of Amy Bragg Carey

This section highlights a local person of interest and admiration, a person whose achievements, manner, leadership, and/or character distinguish them.  If you know people we should include, please apprise us at editor@candor.news, and we will interview them for future issues of Candor. In your submission, include the person’s name, noteworthy traits and accomplishments, and their contact information.

In this issue, we are highlighting Amy Bragg Carey, President of Friends University.

How did you get established in Wichita and what keeps you here?

My husband Bryan and I came to Wichita from St. Paul, Minnesota, in 2015 when I was named the President of Friends University.  Before that time, I knew little about Kansas or Wichita.  We really enjoy the friendly family and faith culture in Wichita.  To get plugged into the community I have participated on various boards and attend many events.  Of course, my work at Friends University is a big part of what keeps me in Wichita.  We love the close-knit Friends community!

As you look back over your life, highlight a couple of your most satisfying accomplishments or contributions -- and explain why.

My leadership team and I decided that we would not just survive COVID (although that was a huge accomplishment to be in-person with athletics and events), but we would seek to move forward strategically.  We adjusted our Strategic Plan to respond to the current environment and kept driving toward our goals.  In less than a year during COVID, we raised $2.3 million to renovate Garvey Athletic Center and the renovation is already in process.  This year is shaping up to be one of our best years in fundraising in decades.  We launched new academic programs in Strategic Leadership and completed other goals.  I am so proud of my faculty and staff – the courage it took to not just survive, but thrive is amazing.  

What have been the happiest, most fulfilling times of your life?

I suppose most people that have children will mention the highlight of bringing your child into this world and experiencing their many accomplishments.  I have many proud-mom moments!  I think a highlight was seeing my son Brett (who was on the 7-year plan) and daughter Anna graduate from college, and now anticipating my son’s graduation with his Masters in Biblical Studies this December.  As a big believer in the transformative power of education, these moments are important milestones.  I would also say that my inauguration at Friends was very significant.  My entire family was here along with many friends from around the country.  The ceremony was special and through the prayers prayed and songs sung, I sensed God moving in a powerful way. 

All or any or none of the following: favorite Wichita landmark or cultural event or entertainment venue or business – with explanation.

I have the privilege of attending many great performances and events at Friends University so that keeps me busy.  I love the Christmas Candlelight performances as it is for me and many others, the kick-off to the Christmas season.  Watching our students perform beautiful Christmas music gives you the feeling that all is well and the future is bright because of these awesome young people.  When visitors come to town we almost always bring them to the Keeper and watch the flames light up the beautiful statue. It’s an impressive sight.

Life is full of teachers and lessons. What are some key lessons that you learned early to great eventual advantage?

My father is a steady and wise man. His roots run deep in Scripture and in life’s experiences.  I am grateful that he has shared his wisdom with me through the years.  He has been the biggest influencer in my life.  He has reminded me that life is not always fair, that friends come and go, that we can’t control what others say or do, but we can control our reaction to it.  I remember when our cat died and our kids who were young at the time were very sad.  My father said, “That’s the good thing about a cat when it dies; it helps us know how to grieve and experience loss, because loss will come.”  While that type of wisdom doesn’t seem too uplifting, it helped me parent my kids in that moment.

In what most significant and non-physical ways have you changed over the course of your adult life?

I pray a lot more now than ever.  I have always prayed and believed in prayer but with so much challenge around us, I pray even more.  And, I have seen amazing answers to prayer – breakthrough of all kinds, and sometimes the kind of breakthrough we may not wish for but in hindsight is the best thing for us.  

Would you be willing to share a set of circumstances that required you to dig deep in order to do what was right or what was necessary?

In my role as President there are many times that I have to make unpopular decisions, and it requires me to dig deep and proceed with what is best for the university and our students.  

Tell us about the last really good book you read.

I have appreciated the book The Happiness Advantage: Happiness Fuels Success. Harvard professor and researcher Shawn Achor evaluated thousands of case studies regarding what produces happiness. The American culture is conditioned to believe that success fuels happiness. But Achor’s research concludes the very opposite that happiness comes first.

Often we believe that if we just land the perfect job, have a sizable salary, or get a big promotion, we will finally find happiness. But it is actually when we become more connected and engaged in relationship with others, that we achieve a level of happiness.  This concept aligns with what we know to be true in Scripture. God created us to be in relationship with others and with Himself, and those relationships can bring joy.

In this difficult year of pandemic, did you learn – or have reinforced – anything about yourself? About others?

The Pandemic was a lesson is resilience and fighting fear.  Everyday our phones and email inbox were flooded with messages of division and panic.  No doubt, this virus is fickle, deadly and difficult to manage. Therefore, to be reasonable and keep my fear in check as well as stay calm for those around me was no easy task.  I found a new level of steely reserve and the ability to manage a constant barrage of unexpected situations.  I learned how much I needed a great team to lead with me and was grateful for my team.  I found out who I can count on in the storm, and it was fun to watch some young leaders really step forward.  These things are defining moments and I grateful to say that we came through the pandemic well.  Although it wasn’t a fun time, we are better today at Friends because of this shared experience.

What will be a hopeful path to Wichita’s future well-being?

As I previously stated, I am a believer in the transformative power of education.  We are blessed to have diverse educational options in Wichita from tech programs to doctoral degrees, private and State schools, Christian and secular, and we need all these options to thrive as a community.  Research tells us that those with a college degree have greater lifetime earning power, and despite the media’s devaluing of education, this earning power hasn’t decreased.  Research also informs us that those with a college degree tend to live physically and mentally healthy lives and are more resilient to market shifts.  Therefore, college education and attainment must be at the center of Wichita’s future well-being.  A focus on education, and the opportunity for faith-based education, can provide a future full of city leaders and job creators that will be able to diversify our economy and lead with integrity.

Photo courtesy of Mack Curry

This section highlights a local person of interest and admiration, a person whose achievements, manner, leadership, and/or character distinguish them.  If you know people we should include, please apprise us at editor@candor.news, and we will interview them for future issues of Candor. In your submission, include the person’s name, noteworthy traits and accomplishments, and their contact information.

In this issue, we are highlighting Mack Curry.

1. How did you come to be established in Wichita?

I came from a base in Idaho in 1987 to take the job of Non-Commissioned Officer of KC-135 R and B-1 bombers/operations flight training at McConnell Air Force Base. I had the most expertise for operational training and mentoring of flight crews of sweep wing planes in terms of getting crews ready for war, if the president so desired.

2. As you look back over your life, highlight a couple of your most satisfying accomplishments or contributions.

Some of our CAPs (Combat Air Missions) were highly successful, one in particular, when Muammar Qaddafi was in power in Libya, our planes protected bombers on several low target missions. I didn’t fly with the pilots on the missions, but it was satisfying to know my training played a part in their success. My Air Force career gave me a chance to intimately learn about the U-2, the B-1B, and the SR-71 planes. I especially enjoyed spending time in Brisbane, Australia, and in Okinawa, Japan.

3. What have been the happiest, fulfilling times of your life?

My kids, my family of course; being a basketball official, I was only the third Black basketball official in Wichita. I was able to officiate both of the Evans brothers in high school games, and a Wichita semi-pro team versus the Angola national team. I refereed for 43 years. From both refereeing games, and from my time in the classroom, I’ll just be walking down the street, or at a business, and a student will come up to me and say “Hey Coach Curry,” and often times it’s one of those students who I tangled with in a classroom.

4. Life is full of teachers and lessons. What are some key lessons that you learned early that gave you eventual advantage?

I have 17 years as an educator, some of my experiences as a Master Sergeant in the Air Force have helped me bring discipline to the classroom at East High, West High, Gateway, and for five years at the Juvenile Detention Center. Growing up in Mississippi, I learned that kids need discipline and direction. Because my family moved around, it took me several years to earn my college diploma, earning credits at five different colleges.

5. Would you be willing to share a set of circumstances that required you to dig deep in order to do what was right or what was necessary?

When a student misbehaves, or won’t put away their cell phone, I simply tell them “I’m in charge,” and if that student continues to be insubordinate, I send them to their administrator. These kids need to get prepared for life, and if they can’t follow orders, or make change, or tell time, they aren’t going to make it.

6. In this difficult year of pandemic, did you learn – or have reinforced – anything about yourself? About others?

In terms of the mask wearing and willingness to get vaccinated, I think it’s become too political, and some people are just afraid. Some people don’t trust the government, and if the government tells them to do something, they’re skeptical. We as Americans stress constitutional rights when we think it is in our interest such as getting the shot(s) or not. When there is personal protection needed (Covid-19), we will. Refuse a long term solution for a short term gain. Business verses human suffering

7. What will be a hopeful path to Wichita’s future well-being?

Wichita needs to get away from just pushing for industry and business and focus on more things for people to do, especially in the summer. We need things to be more affordable for all kids, at Exploration Place, the Zoo, Intrust Bank Arena. And one way to improve race relations would be to bring more Black entertainment to town, you don’t see those concerts scheduled at Intrust Arena.

For a different perspective of who Mack Curry is, and of what it means to be a Black man serving in the armed forces, living in America today, watch this video featuring another Col. Mack Curry, USAF, his son! 

Photo courtesy of Marty and Cindy Miller

This section highlights a local person of interest and admiration, a person whose achievements, manner, leadership, and/or character distinguish them.  If you know people we should include, please apprise us at editor@candor.news, and we will interview them for future issues of Candor. In your submission, include the person’s name, noteworthy traits and accomplishments, and their contact information.

In this issue, we are highlighting Marty and Cindy Miller.

1. How did you come to be established in Wichita?

Marty and I both got established in Wichita because we were born and raised in Wichita. We are the eldest in our families, graduates of Mary Benton Elementary, Mayberry Junior High, West High School; Marty attended Friends and I attended Wichita State. We were childhood friends raised across the street from one another in political households where our fathers served as leaders in our city and state.  

Cindy:  My parents believed that for a democracy to stay vibrant, every citizen should be actively involved. My grandfather and father served in the Navy, had thriving medical practices, and served as mayors of Wichita and on the city council. My father also served on the school board. Dad started the first family practice medical school at St. Joseph before KU moved to Wichita and started a company to provide medical services, wrote an astronomy book, and was an avid reader about history.

My mother served on numerous non-profit civic boards and actively was involved as PTA president, Girl Scout leader, and on numerous committees in USD #259. Besides attending to her civic duties, Mother, a homemaker, daily fixed breakfast for 5 children, kept our 5-acre homestead mowed and gardened, sewed, knitted and wove on a loom, and continued to seek knowledge by taking classes to learn about engines, art, etc.   

Wichita is our home and when we visit other states, it’s always great to be home.

2. As you look back over your life, highlight a couple of your most satisfying accomplishments or contributions and explain why.

Cindy:

a) Being the parent of two children, a son and daughter, is my most satisfying accomplishment.  Both are contributing members to society, personable, respectful to others, ethical, and good parents to my six grandchildren. I was able to retire and care for my mother during the last 4 years of her life.  I thank God for her wisdom, counsel, humor, and love. She used to say, “Disappointments are unmet expectations.” Engraved on her marker, it has become my daily mantra. Witnessing her spirituality and grace are permanently etched in my heart.

b)  I am proud of my 35 years as a teacher, staff developer, and administrator and was able to help prepare many students to be contributing, successful adults. The experience and knowledge I gleaned from being an educator prepared me for my second career as a community volunteer.

c) Since retirement, my passion is to give back to the community, to help others, to provide services to those in need. Connecting people with people and consolidating resources also lifts my soul. I serve in a variety of capacities on numerous boards and committees by raising funds, planning events, and developing new programs. Currently, I serve at Botanica, Urban League of Kansas, Downtown Rotary, Suburban Garden Club, Wichita’s Littlest Heroes, Assistance League, Friendship Force, Designing Women, Higher Ground, the Asian Association, and ICT:SOS Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women.

Marty: In my early years, I served the public and developed leadership skills as a sheriff’s deputy in Sedgwick County and Johnson County for 10 years, then served 2 years in the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office. At the end of that administration, I worked for Phil Ruffin and managed numerous Town and Country Market convenience stores, the first chain of self-pump gas stations in Kansas. During Governor Finney’s term, I was the Director of Community Development for the Kansas Department of Commerce, which gave me a holistic view of the Kansas demographics and problems in commerce and trade. I also learned how to use federal funds to meet the needs of many communities. I held other jobs, but eventually ended up as the assistant director at the City of Wichita’s Department of Housing before I began my job at Botanica 13 years ago.

Working at Botanica and being able to create and build a beautiful community meeting place that brings a diverse and robust group of people together in joy, peace and reflection when celebrating life events or the arts is my great joy. Fortunately, with God’s guidance, the help of volunteers, generous donors, and a talented staff and board, Botanica provides the community with a small window of heaven right in the middle of Kansas. As Botanica grows, we will emphasize the arts through displays and the gardens while celebrating the diverse cultures in our region.

3.  What have been the happiest, fulfilling times of your life?

Cindy:  The happiest and most fulfilling time of our lives is when we can create, ideate, and work in sync with others on a project or idea that goes to fruition or contributes to the betterment of society. Though it sounds very idealistic, we believe our mission in life is to try to make the world a better place through service. On our off days, we enjoy spending time with family, friends, and our new dog, Daisy Mae.  Traveling together or with others gives us new perspectives on life and provides us with ideas to possibly incorporate into our daily lives at home. God’s creations in the outdoors feed our souls and give us peace and thankfulness.

4. Life is full of teachers and lessons. What are some key lessons that you learned early that gave you eventual advantage?

Both of us learned from an early age that God is our Maker, that perseverance, honesty, respecting others and parents are crucial, that objectivism and optimism are necessary, that humor, especially being able to laugh at oneself, can help in the most difficult situations, that greed and prejudice are not tolerated, that listening before judging is loving, and that continual learning is important.

5. In what most significant and non-physical ways have you changed over the course of your adult life?

Cindy: Trusting and listening to God and becoming more patient, accepting, and forgiving of others. After having life-threatening health issues last year, I had an epiphany in which God helped crystalize my true calling of serving in non-profit organizations. Throughout my life, it has been difficult for me to focus on specific tasks or one career. However, in my retirement, I found my lack of focus has helped me develop skills I can use advantageously to serve the community more broadly.

6. Would you be willing to share a set of circumstances that required you to dig deep in order to do what was right or what was necessary?

Cindy: Like everyone, I have experienced quite a few challenges throughout my life that required strength and courage to do what was necessary. Whether it was in my career, personal matters, family crises or friendships, I rely on prayer, inner conscience, professional opinions, researching it, and asking the opinions of those I trust and respect. Sometimes, I have fretted or worried about situations and lose sleep about it until the solution to the problem comes to me in a dream. Interestingly, the few times I have had these dreams, I woke up and moved forward with a crystal- clear plan.  

7. In this difficult year of pandemic, did you learn – or have reinforced – anything about yourself? About others?

Marty: Never give up and we are never alone.

Cindy: With all the woes of the pandemic and my personal health issues, I have learned in times of difficulty there are also a great many blessings. The pandemic allowed me to be patient, grateful for life, thankful for our dear friends and acquaintances, and gave me new understandings of God’s grace, reminded me of the global interconnectedness of people, and helped me appreciate what I have and revel in the mystery of life.  

8.  What will be a hopeful path to Wichita’s future well-being?

Marty:  Create a strong diversified base comprised of small businesses that encourage entrepreneurial innovation. Those businesses will develop into large ones in a business friendly environment.  We must strengthen the city’s policy when it comes to business retention.  We must respect all citizens regardless of race, gender, culture and age; listen to the community voice their beliefs as the governments and organizations consolidate resources and attempt to legislate and regulate what is best for the common good and health; ideate and develop 5, 10 and 50-100 year plans promoting infrastructure and tax initiatives to promote the arts, entertainments and parks/recreation development (as they have in Oklahoma City).  Thereby we become a thriving metropolis for tourists and visitors.         

Photo courtesy of Charity Schaulis

This section highlights a local person of interest and admiration, a person whose achievements, manner, leadership, and/or character distinguish them.  If you know people we should include, please apprise us at editor@candor.news, and we will interview them for future issues of Candor. In your submission, include the person’s name, noteworthy traits and accomplishments, and their contact information.

In this issue, we are highlighting Charity Schaulis.

1. How did you get established in Wichita and what keeps you here now?

Thirty-two years ago, and two months after we were married in my home state of California, my husband Rick accepted a promotion at Excel Beef, Cargill’s meat division headquarters here in Wichita, Kansas. Our adult children and extended family live coast to coast, but in Wichita the cost of living affords perks like travel. Here we enjoy lifelong friendships in a supportive community.

2. As you look back over your life, highlight a couple of your most satisfying accomplishments or contributions.

I’ve had the honor of contributing to several start-ups. Seeking competition while coaching Forensics, I hosted local competitive speech and debate tournaments for over 500 homeschool students, 24 of whom competed at the national level. Continuing with classical education, I coached Forensics and Value Debate for a new start-up school, the Classical School of Wichita. In 2009 I helped launch the 21st Affiliate of Christian Youth Theatre as the first Board President and Managing Director. But the test of my leadership came in 2013 when comedian Robin Williams committed suicide and I was serving as Executive Director of HopeNet, a local faith-based nonprofit offering coaching and counseling.

At a time when mental Illness was equated with mental health and stigma was highest amongst the Christian community, I found my voice. Sharing about the importance of practicing mental health, I experienced the distinct privilege of watching the community around me wake as the entire nation began to recognize the need for practicing wellness. A million-dollar-plus renovation campaign emerged as an outcome of an exponential increase in donor support (by over 10 times), facilitating an increase in the number of persons served by HopeNet from 200 to 3500 persons per year by the close of my tenure.

My personal highlight during this season was earning the trust of philanthropists and leaders in our city, many who sought advice in times of crisis or transition. This led me to gain training and skills to build their natural strengths while practicing wellbeing to meet goals. Today, as an Associate Certified Coach I find great satisfaction in coaching highly functional people who move forward exponentially in confidence and contribute to our community and the world.

3. What have been the happiest, most fulfilling times of your life?

Experiencing the joy of my family connecting and caring for one another is particularly gratifying because I no longer take it for granted. Meeting my husband, building a new life together with our 3 children has been my greatest priority and fulfillment. Having survived a significant family crisis, our family now enjoys the sweet joy of redemptive healing as each member has grown more in faith and respect for one another. Honestly, my most fulfilling times are spent on my knees as I surrender and trust God with what is most dear. Last month, our son became engaged and I am profoundly happy as our family continues to grow and embrace change together.

4. Favorite things:

I truly enjoy prayer, Bible reading and exercise because they provide the fuel I need for the remainder of the day. I find pleasure in projects that involve color and texture such as decorating and sewing. My soul is renewed when exploring God’s creation while hiking or walking along the beach - and my husband and I love to travel and explore places near and far.

5. Life is full of teachers and lessons. What are some key lessons that you learned early to great eventual advantage?

I grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area during the “Make Love Not War” Flower Child era of the late 60’s and early 70’s. Raised by a single mother, I learned the importance of education and achievement to change one’s life trajectory and put myself through college. I came to the end of myself in my second year of college, however, and discovered the unknown God named Jesus who met me in my college dorm room.

Fast forward 25 years into our marriage and a successful career. Our youngest child took a dive into alcohol abuse. This brought me to my knees as our family system shook and nearly crumbled. Courageously, each member committed to our family and embraced hard personal work. As only God would have it, I was forced to practice what I preached, especially in regards to practicing wellness, and took a life-changing sabbatical, which provided the renewal I needed. Today, our daughter is sober and thriving of her own accord. Through our season of suffering, I learned to love God through surrender and stewarding myself, His beloved. In this practice, I am able to love others more intuitively.

6. In what most significant and non-physical ways have you changed over the course of your adult life?

I learned the importance of letting go of adult children. Like watching a butterfly emerge from its cocoon only to let it fly away to unknown dangers and toils, parenting adult children is about releasing control. I had to let go of my hopes and expectations. I thought their lives were a reflection of mine; when instead, they need to explore their own reflection. In this, I found my reflection in Jesus and his great love for me which does not waiver with their choices.

7. Tell us about the last really good book you read.

White Fragility. Every. Single. Person. Should. Read it. I gained a whole new perspective on hidden bias and gained insight into what it means to love my neighbor as myself.

8. In this difficult season of pandemic, did you learn – or have reinforced – anything about yourself?

The pandemic allowed me to slow down in ways I didn’t know I needed. My husband and I focused on daily disciplines and discovered ways to travel virtually. We began an adventure of experience together through studying one continent a month; we will complete our trip around the globe in March.

9. Any life regrets?

“To regret deeply is to live afresh.” – Henry David Thoreau.  I have many regrets, yet none at all. Regret reveals my humanity and exposes my need for grace. May God use my faults to teach me how to love God, myself and others more deeply.

10. What will be a hopeful path to Wichita’s future well-being?

Love your neighbor with simple acts of kindness. This works best when you know what loving them actually looks like -- to them! Our community will benefit if we take a position of life-long learning, while promoting round-table, critical discussions. In terms of individual contribution, knowing and developing your own strengths will increase your potential impact and help you identify effective ways you can invest in the community around you.

Photo courtesy of John Todd

This section highlights a local person of interest and admiration, a person whose achievements, manner, leadership, and/or character distinguish them.  If you know people we should include, please apprise us at editor@candor.news, and we will interview them for future issues of Candor. In your submission, include the person’s name, noteworthy traits and accomplishments, and their contact information.

In this issue, we are highlighting John Todd.

I was born in Pittsburg, Kansas, spending my first 12 years as a farm boy and attending a two-room country school. In the early 1950s, my family moved to Kansas City, where I finished grade school, high school, and junior college. I graduated from the University of Kansas in 1963 and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the United States Army, subsequently serving two years of active duty that included a tour in South Korea.

In 1965 I accepted a job as a sales representative with the National Gypsum Co. in Wichita, selling its full line of walls and ceiling products, calling on lumber yards and construction tradesmen. I had the good fortune of selling the 25 carloads of plaster that went into the new Century II Civic Center that was built by a vote of the citizens of Wichita to celebrate Wichita’s first century while looking forward to its second, thus the name. After similar employment with Masonite Corporation selling their line of building material products, I began my successful 30-year career in 1976 as a self-employed real estate broker and developer.

Years of sales and marketing provided me with the first-hand opportunity to learn about how free markets work. My understanding was honed after reading Leonard E. Read’s essay I, Pencil, which provided me a succinct illustration of how Adam Smith’s invisible hand of markets works, alongside Friedrich Hayek’s emphasis on the role that the price system plays in communicating signals that “will make the individuals do the desirable things without anyone having to tell them what to do.” Click here to read I, Pencil.  

This, in my view, provides the basis of the economic freedom and liberty we enjoy in this country. Thousands of individuals working towards their own enlightened self-interest in a free market is superior and more efficient than centrally-planned economies controlled by a small group of self-serving elites. My personal choice is for individual economic freedom over collectivist control anytime!

During all of my years in the marketing arena, my major emphasis was practicing consultative sales techniques as opposed to a “hard-sell” adversarial approach.  Humor has always played a role in my dealing with people. In a real estate transaction, everyone should win or it simply should not go together at all.

A major personal mentor during my professional career in real estate was real estate broker, investor, and entrepreneur Colby Sandlian. His seminars in “Broker Estate Building” were invaluable. I learned the importance of counseling with customers/clients as an integral part of successfully structuring real estate transactions with benefits for everyone. Colby taught us the importance of specializing and developing an expertise in a real estate niche as opposed to attempting to work the whole spectrum. Land assembly, option contracts, rolling option contracts, and how to use real estate exchange as a valuable real estate-problem solving tool were included in Colby’s informative courses. I also admire Colby’s little known work in giving back to his hometown, Wichita. 

I have been blessed over the last 20-plus years with the opportunity to become and work as an active and engaged citizen. My early legislative actions included failed attempts at municipal court reform in the early 2000s. This was followed by an ongoing fight to protect individual private property rights from eminent domain abuse in Kansas, starting in 2006 following the disastrous Kelo decision by the SCOTUS that left property owners in Kansas vulnerable.  (Kelo v. City of New London ruled that government could use eminent domain to transfer land from one private owner to another private owner as a “permissible public use.”)  Attempts by cities in Kansas to expand their municipal eminent domain powers legislatively have been an issue that I have had some success in fighting for the last several years. However, this issue needs continued monitoring since it seems to return each legislature year in one form or another.

For nearly twelve years starting in 2008, I had the privilege of producing literally hundreds of weekly programs for the Wichita Pachyderm Club. We scheduled from a broad spectrum of high-profile, quality speakers who graced our lectern each week with expertise and experience in politics, economics, history, business, current events, as well as a wide variety of educational issues. Our goal at the Wichita Pachyderm Club was to promote active, informed citizen involvement. In 2013-14 our club was recognized by the National Federation of Pachyderm Clubs as the most outstanding club in the nation. Click here to view Wichita Pachyderm Club videos.

For the past couple of years, prior to the coronavirus pandemic, I was invited to participate in the planning of New Symposium Society: Civil Discourse in the Pursuit of Truth. Meetings were held at Friends University and featured panel discussions presenting opposing perspectives on a wide range of topics.  After one of the forums a panelist noted: “This was the first time I ever participated in a forum that included anyone who did not hold my views on the discussion topic, and as a result, I learned something new tonight.” She reinforced my own observation that I learn more from people I disagree with than from those whom I do.

I joined the Wichita Chapter of Americans for Prosperity—Kansas in 2004 and became the first AFP volunteer coordinator in the country. In 2014, I was honored with AFP’s grassroots volunteer of the year award at their convention in Dallas, Texas. A year earlier, the Kansas Policy Institute honored me with the John J. Ingalls Spirit of Freedom Award. At AFP-Kansas, until a couple of years ago, I helped lead organized grassroots efforts and provided educational discussion seminars in support of private property rights, economic freedom, and liberty.

Over the years, one of my major overriding goals as an active citizen has been the creation of better government and the preservation of liberty. As former U. S. Speaker of the U. S. House of Representatives Tip O’Neill so accurately explained – “All politics is local.” Therefore, a great amount of my political, educational, and citizen-activist work over the years has focused on local government reform. Much work is to be done in our own local community. I heartily encourage other citizens to get involved in this noble effort!

Perhaps you have also observed that there are people in our society who love governing other people. They like rules and laws for others, but not necessarily for themselves. Business owners, along with their business associations, espouse to be free-market oriented, but nonetheless use their influence with governmental officials to promote licensing and regulations to limit their competitors. They also see nothing wrong with using this same influence, although technically legal but perhaps not moral, to obtain public financing incentives to further their own personal financial gains. Unfortunately, the use of this type of governmental influence activity actually works to the detriment of other productive taxpayers who are left with the ongoing bill to pay for public safety, our court system, and the schools necessary to educate our children. In some circles, this practice is called “legal” plunder. Click here to download or read Frederic Bastiat’s The Law

My first educational foray into the reality of politics was as a University of Kansas college intern in the Personnel Department of Kansas City, Missouri, in 1962. One day while administering 40-word-per-minute typist examinations required of all prospective city job applicants, a future employee was sent to the personnel office by Mayor H. Roe Bartle -- and was hired immediately without having to take the typing test. I asked Mr. Donmeyer, a Senior Personnel Examiner in the department, how he intellectually dealt with what I had just witnessed. He advised, “John, in order to successfully work for the city of Kansas City, Missouri, and to keep your job here, you have to be able to sit on a fence and look two ways at the same time!”

As an observer of the Wichita City Council for many years, I have witnessed a litany of people who appear almost weekly before the council with wonderful so called “economic” development projects and job creation schemes that, if approved, will make the elected officials look like visionaries. However, there is always a catch to their creative proposals: they can’t perform their magic if they are required to pay taxes like every other taxpayer in town. So, many of these special-interest requests are approved by our city council members by using taxpayer-funded incentive programs -- STAR Bonds, CID’s, tax abatements, and TIF’s, all of which are authorized and enabled through Kansas statutes (courtesy of the Kansas legislature).  Many citizens as well as business owners stand by and say nothing about this common practice even though they oppose these government-funded incentives because they fear reprisals from customers, clients, and even the government. Now we are back to the Mayor H. Roe Bartle story and the city employee’s fear of losing his job if he stands up in opposition. 

About one year ago, the Wichita City Council spent $100,000 of taxpayer money to partially fund and support a downtown public/private redevelopment group whose plan many people believe was predetermined and would eventually lead to the demolition of the citizens’ iconic and treasured Century II and former public library without a mandatory vote of the people of Wichita. Both of the buildings are on the National Register of Historic Places. So as a result of this group’s action, a Save Century II citizen’s group organized a Municipal Petition Initiative drive to force the Wichita City Council to require a mandatory majority vote of the people to decide the fate and disposition of Century II and the former public library.

The Save Century II petition movement was a significant citizen action handled by over 400 volunteer petition circulators who, to their credit, obtained over 17,000 voter signatures despite the feared coronavirus pandemic that was going on.  They were tired of the lack of city transparency in downtown redevelopment projects that enriched many of the same favored downtown developers with public land giveaways, public financing, and other creative, developer-favored incentives. To our amazement and pleasure, we found that the petition signers were Wichitans from a broad ideological cross section. The city council’s response to their citizens’ petition was to file suit in District Court to block the citizen’s’ right to vote. After facing a setback in the local District Court, the Save Century II Committee has appealed the people’s case to a Court of Appeals, and is working tirelessly in an effort to pass legislation in Topeka that would mandate a public vote of the people on a potential $1 billion project designed to replace Century II. 

Even at this late date, there is still time for dialogue between Wichita citizens and City Hall. I would challenge our Mayor and City Council to seize this opportunity to work constructively with their constituents by dropping their lawsuit against the Save Century II supporters and by further supporting a Municipal Historic Buildings Act that will soon be introduced in the 2021 Kansas Legislature, mandating a citizen’s vote before city-owned buildings on the National Register of Historic Places can be demolished. This could bring needed uplift to our community and restore citizen trust in their elected officials, a win for everyone!   

My activism over the years has given me the opportunity to meet and build networks with many elected officials and hundreds of active citizens.  My hope is for people, young and old, to recognize that we are so much richer than our 18th century, pre-Industrial Revolution ancestors. My concern is that too many of us take our privileged lives for granted and therein lies the risk of squandering it.  Another concern is our willingness to think that government is the solution to all of our problems, and that our rights as citizens are granted to us by our government and are not natural rights that preceded the advent of government, in particular our constitutional republic. Click here to watch the video Hockey Stick of Human Prosperity

Wichita is a tremendous community to live in. As compared to driving the freeways and interstate highways in Dallas and Kansas City, driving Kellogg is a pleasure. Driving anywhere in Wichita takes 10-15 minutes and yet we have a similar variety of arts, cultural events, and great food choices available to us as in larger, more congested cities. Wichita is a place I treasure for my family and the many friends who bring meaning to my life.

And finally, my wife Carol of 49-years has been a blessing in my life as well as our two grown children and five amazing grandchildren. 

Photo courtesy of Jane Byrnes

This section highlights a local person of interest and admiration, a person whose achievements, manner, leadership, and/or character distinguish them.  If you know people we should include, please apprise us at editor@candor.news, and we will interview them for future issues of Candor. In your submission, include the person’s name, noteworthy traits and accomplishments, and their contact information.

In this issue, we are highlighting Jane Byrnes.

I was born and raised in Wichita’s “North End.”  I worked my way through several colleges, lived and worked in other cities, and returned to Wichita in 1982.  I am a registered, licensed dietitian and I teach a class on nutrition in the College of Health Professionals at Wichita State University. 

I helped start a group called Bike Walk Wichita.  In fact, I’m the reason “Walk” is in the name, and I continue to advocate for the health and safety of walking and walkability.  On the back of my Walk Kansas shirt, it says — “I walk because:

·       Life is not a race.

·       You don’t need lessons.

·       There’s nothing to assemble.

·       No one keeps score.

·       It makes me feel ten years younger.

·       There are no membership fees.

·       I plan to celebrate my 95th birthday.”

With walking, there’s no equipment to protect from theft, no tires to go flat, no gears to shift, no special clothes to wear.  Just put on shoes, open your front door and head out—if only around the block or to a park or school, to church, to groceries. With walking, you get to see porches, kids, flowers, and your neighbors, the good folks who chose the same neighborhood. You can admire other nature lovers’ coleuses, smell their lilacs, listen to their ponds gurgle.

Life is sweet at 3 miles per hour with all those birds and trees and neighbors, but even sweeter with a partner.  I’m a walker-and-talker.  Patty was my early morning partner for several years.  Judi was wonderful for another four, almost every weekday morning.  We were so dedicated that we’d meet up at the Y when it rained or snowed. Gloria is my Tuesday walking partner now and sometimes on Fridays.  Walking partners are conversationalists, become excellent friends, and create accountability.  They’re waiting for you and you wait up for them.  Dogs are happy walking accountability partners too. 

Walking my dog one otherwise-busy St. Patrick’s Day, it occurred to me that I was not going to have time for a green beer (my family leans Irish).  Lo and behold, on the next block a garage party offered me one!  My dog Lucy and I thought that perfect!  Would I have gotten the invite if I were in a car or on a bike?  Nope.  One green beer with neighbors made a memorable March 17, all the celebration I needed. 

Me, I’m a morning walker, but friend Crista relishes walking her dogs in the evenings.  Spouses and house partners and workmates figure out whether they can squeeze in mornings, lunch hours, after work, or in the dark.  Some folks I know like to walk alone—some listen to music or the news, to an audio book or podcast.  Accountability and routine matter because if folks walk regularly it benefits their health.  You know, versus TV.  And screen games. 

I see a lot of science about indoor air and COVID-19.  I only see a little bit of science about outdoor air and COVID. Nature dilutes and disperses viral particles.  Even if somebody just sneezed or coughed or sang a few minutes ago, the Kansas wind scatters any concentration to infinitesimal parts-per-million.  Yes, I mask up if I’m in a crowd outdoors, but not when there is no crowd. 

I live in the city and I’m a zealot for walkability, which is walking that is useful (healthy), comfortable (shade trees), and interesting (we walk as tourists, don’t we?).  In my city I am most concerned about safety: permit me a minute of grumbling that the budget for painting crosswalks was cut 12 years ago and several times since, even around schools and parks.  They seem to have enough bucks for cars--freeways and roadways and interchanges-- but never much for folks outside cars.  All taxpayers pay for roads whether they use them or not, but sidewalks in Wichita must be paid for by property owners whether they use them or not.

Walking in your own neighborhood makes your area safer and everybody more pleasant.  It’s simple and most folks can do it. It’s a community-builder and a friend-builder and a builder of mental and physical health, and it’s FREE. 

So, back to Bike Walk Wichita: it hosted fun walks throughout Walktober. Now, BWW invites you to take a picture of YOUR fun walks checking out seasonal holiday light in YOUR neighborhood walks. BWW will post them on their facebook page. Also, if YOU’d like to be a walk leader in your own neighborhood, tell us that too!

I hope we meet on a walk one day!

Photo courtesy of Becky Elder

This section highlights a local person of interest and admiration, a person whose achievements, manner, leadership, and/or character distinguish them.  If you know people we should include, please apprise us at editor@candor.news, and we will interview them for future issues of Candor. In your submission, include the person’s name, noteworthy traits and accomplishments, and their contact information.

In this issue, we are highlighting Becky Elder.

1. What established you in Wichita and now keeps you here?

How fun. I am all Wichita forever and ever. Great grandparents entrenched and the rest of us never left. We are Stickers.....what keeps me here now is the investment of ourselves in this place. History teaches that only very recently did people relocate as a preference. It was plague, famine and war that drove them out. Now, we just move around.

2. As you look back over the course of your life, highlight a couple of your most satisfying accomplishments -- and explain why they are highlights. 

Like Thomas Jefferson, put these on my gravestone: "She was privileged to marry a good man and, in unison with him, able to birth 7 children and adopt one, raising them all to be sensible, including the adults." Marriage is one of those commitments to a place and to the people in that place that must be seen as a benefit for everyone. You know the benefits of marriage, not just for two, but for all. It trickles down.  There is also an endless list of people who came along with our busy life from absolutely every direction. Building and nurturing the networks of friendship is a life well spent. I also have enjoyed being able to grow lots of what we eat. Not all of it, but a garden grows self-confidence not just food. Call me a black-belt gardener.

3. In this difficult year of international pandemic and inflamed national, election-year politics, what can you forecast as a "coming attraction," or an ameliorative of sorts?

 Disorientation of all sorts will require us to up our game of creativity and industriousness. We might even see an uptick in self-reliance, making Henry David Thoreau smile.

4. Life is full of lessons.  What is a valued lesson a parent or mentor instilled in you -- and to what effect? 

Oh my, for certain my father saying, "You can cut off your leg or believe me that it hurts to cut off your leg." And my mother saying, profound philos0pher she was, " Do you really think that is a good idea?" And my beloved literature professor in college saying, "All Shakespeare teaches us is the nature of God, man and appearance vs reality."

5. Do you have a piece of advice for the young?  And for the aging? 

For the young, "stay at it without expectation of any returns except the joy of your youth." For the oldsters, like myself, "Love more than you fear. It might help you keep your balance. And when you can't sleep because of your fears, sing." 

6. What will be a hopeful path to Wichita's future well-being? 

Make certain that we behave ourselves, remembering we are  just folks and don't try to find greener grass. Work where you are with what you have to the advantage of all. It can be done.

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Photo: Courtesy of Daniel Snyder

This section highlights a local person of interest and admiration, a person whose achievements, manner, leadership, and/or character distinguish them.  If you know people we should include, please apprise us at editor@candor.news, and we will interview them for future issues of Candor. In your submission, include the person’s name, noteworthy traits and accomplishments, and their contact information.

In this issue, we are highlighting Daniel Snyder.

1. Dan, what established you in Wichita and now keeps you here?

My wife and I moved here from New York City in 2013 to take a position at the Classical School of Wichita, teaching high school logic and rhetoric.  We had been living and working in Manhattan, I as an opera singer, and she as an accompanist, both involved with the International Opera Alliance.  My work had drawn me to many cities in the United States, and I had the opportunity to travel in Europe, Mexico, the Caribbean and even to Mozambique in the pursuit of a singing career.  It was my habit when I traveled to walk around the environs wherever I found myself, walking rather than driving, preferring to live in a populated center, hopefully near the performing venue.  Usually being alone as a solo artist, I would study a place and people, spending significant time at libraries.

I could tell you about some wonderful libraries hidden in the center of cities, such as the Eudora Welty Library in Jackson, Mississippi, or the Toledo Public Library, both having largely escaped the purgative book sales that thin the under-browsed shelves of their time-bound volumes.  Strange old books on back shelves gave me much to think about, especially in the light of where I found them. 

Living the life of homeless traveler, albeit episodic and remunerated, I would find myself wondering how I could perhaps settle in to one of the places I found to be beautiful (yes, some were impermeable).  As the fortunes of regional opera waned and symphonic organizations declined, an abiding interest in classical Western literature and music soon answered           .

My father, a Western Civ professor (now retired) in Tennessee, suggested that I should look into teaching at a classical school.  Familial connections at the time running into Wichita, I followed the thread and fell in love.  It is my privilege, a word that I embrace, to pass on what I understand as a treasured inheritance to my young friends and budding colleagues -- my students and fellow faculty.  Imagine reading and discussing the often referenced but seldom read ‘back shelves’ of the world day after day, all the while living in a city that retains its heritage in working order, having not succumbed to the gentrification and false bohemianism of so many once-vital places. 

This is my experience of Wichita, a place full of book clubs, book stores, discussion groups, vital churches and great restaurants and bars.  Tracee and I have been enriched by the symphony, the opera, and not least the hockey games. We have been made to marvel at this city, living as we are in College Hill and delighting in the variegated architecture that is still working for those of a working wage, a group that included – a surprising discovery, thanks to the efforts of one of my sisters in California -- my maternal grandfather and grandmother, who had met and married in Wichita during the depression.  They moved since to Chicago.  This was a stunner. We learned that she had been a teacher in Newton, and he, Peter Tanis, with his brother Klaus, had run a trucking company out of Wichita called the Tanis Racket. 

Soon, our report of all things Wichita led my wife’s sister, and both of my sons, who are former Marines, to move here.  One son is also a teacher; the other, serving with the Wichita Police Department.  Recently being blessed by the birth of a grandson, we now include a Wichita native! 

2. As you look back over the course of your life, highlight a couple of your most satisfying accomplishments -- and explain why they are highlights.

I am happy to have retained the love of my wife through all the many windings of our life together. 

Looking back, the track meets of my high school days are some of my fondest memories, running at the Drake Relays, competing in Sioux City where I grew up, and making it into the sports pages of the local paper.  Returning there once as a soloist for the Sioux City Symphony, people at a local hangout famous for tavern sandwiches, The Miles Inn, remembered me for that.

I’m also happy to think back on my stint in the Marines and my friendships in that tight brotherhood.  Singing the music of Kurt Weill in Berlin, staying on Heinrich Heine Strasse seemed like a culminating event, since I had spent so much time performing German art songs along the way.  

Getting my work as a video game designer on the cover of Wired magazine back in the heady ‘90s was trippy, the same year I did an interview for Playboy magazine.

Recalling the events of a single day -- singing for the dedication of the World War Two memorial in Washington DC, singing the Frank Martin “In Terra Pax” at the National Cathedral, and hanging out with Bob Dole in the vestry as he narrated a commemoration of the cessation of hostilities those many years ago in 1945 -- I get a bit of vertigo thinking of the many things I have to be thankful for. 

I’m afraid this is all a bit like Herodotus, with many tangential stories that confuse rather than clarify.

3. In this difficult year of international pandemic and inflamed national, election-year politics, what can you forecast as a "coming attraction," or an ameliorative of sorts?

The worst part of the “pandemic” is that it is “international.”  What an intrusion on the quiet introspection that is needed to build careful awareness.  What is now an hysteria, made manifest in so many ways, is a colossal distraction and illusion, and points to a general tendency among us in this century toward frenzied fixation on petty accessories rather than grounding nourishment.   We need more local news, more concern with our actual neighbors, less international policy, more involvement at the most local levels in the democracy we have inherited. Think of it: “Everyone isolate and await the next proclamation from the megaphone!”  Of course people are attracted by the biggest things, me included, but enjoyment of each other in the flesh and in real proximity is the basis of healthy politics, and not global manias, social, medical, economic, and so on.  Idolatry has constantly been cast down in our history, and I hope that the energy remains in the old body to lop off this latest bronze giant. 

I suppose I’m afraid that as the existential threat wanes and is increasingly revealed as a mirage, we will be ashamed to look each other in the face, and so will continue on as disjunct participants in a national drama, rather than committed citizens of a real place.

4. Life is full of lessons.  What is a valued lesson a parent or mentor instilled in you -- and to what effect?

My father made it clear that education is its own reward, and careers are things that happen when you live life, not the goals of life.  The Marines taught me that habits are either parasitic enemies or valuable servants, and there is no middle ground. 

5. Do you have a piece of advice for the young?  And for the aging?

When you are young seek wisdom.  As you age, you will either become set in your ways, a cartoon of yourself, or you will grow; keep your antennae out.

6. What will be a hopeful path to Wichita's future well-being?

Wichita should continue as a place of strong commitment to industry and balanced economy.  Economy includes much more than the flow of money and real estate.  Economy is the engagement of all in fulfilling work that benefits the family, the city, the county, the state, and somewhere way down the road, the world.  This includes necessarily the arts.  There seems to be a tension in this, but abstractions of real relationships can cause very large and unforeseen consequence

I like to see the Wichita flags flying.

7. A question of your choosing, should you have more to say:

Are electric cars better than combustion powered cars?

Since man began to dominate space, creating in effect “time machines,” our historic path has been toward dispersion. We move farther away from each other.  One compensation is the romantic noise and fume of the snorting beasts we ride, and I view any softening of that effect as a movement toward the subconscious assumption of a vice rather than the enthusiastic embrace of a virtue.   An electric car could actually be a vice of the soul, and should only be considered in consultation with your pastor.  Also, Mopar is the quintessence of the American automotive romance.

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Photo: Courtesy of George Pearson

This section highlights a local person of interest and admiration, a person whose achievements, manner, leadership, and/or character distinguish them.  If you know people we should include, please apprise us at editor@candor.news, and we will interview them for future issues of Candor. In your submission, include the person’s name, noteworthy traits and accomplishments, and their contact information.

In this issue, we are highlighting George Pearson. 

1. What established you in Wichita and now keeps you here?

In 1965 I came to Wichita with my college (Grove City College) economics professor who was giving a weekend seminar for the Wichita Young Presidents Organization (YPO).  When we arrived at the event, we were greeted by the program committee which consisted of Bob Love, Willard Garvey, John Frazer, and Charles Koch.  That seminar ultimately resulted in me being offered a job at Koch Engineering Company working for Charles Koch. That job was interrupted by the activation of the Kansas Air National Guard.  While stationed in Wichita, I met my wife, Marilyn, and we were married the week after I was released from active duty.  I went back to work at Koch, this time at The Fred C. Koch Foundation where I administered several foundations for the family. In 1980 I was given the additional responsibility to head a new public affairs department.  By the time I left Koch in 1992, I had family, friends, and interests that kept us in Wichita.

2. Mentoring can have a serendipitous nature, i.e., people enter our lives whose presence makes us wiser or better than we were.  Name two mentors to you and what did they "deposit"?

I worked for Charles Koch and considered him a mentor.  For a couple of years we talked about a particular project daily. During those conversations he always took a few minutes to discuss what he was reading. I read the books he read to be able to keep up with the conversation.  His focus, discipline, and capacity among other attributes were ones that I admired but never attained.

Bob Love was also a mentor. Mr. Love introduced me to investments and community involvement.  He guided me on my first residential real estate investment and my first commercial real estate investment.  Income from real estate investments became our source of income when I retired from Koch.  My community involvement began with the YMCA. Mr. Love asked me to call on “Y” supporters annually and encourage them to donate to provide funding for the school age kids in “Y” programs who could not afford the charge of admission.  I went on to serve on at least a dozen local non-profit boards.

3. What affections or disaffections color your view of the future?

On the national level I’m most concerned about the rapidly increasing debt and the accrual of power in the executive branch of government.

History tells us that out-of-control spending and an imbalance of power favoring the executive branch of government have been the recipe for disaster in many ancient and modern day countries.  Closer to home I’m most concerned about education.  Foremost, I would like to see higher proficiency in reading and math scores, especially among children from low-income households.  My wish is that the U.S. could move up in the education rankings of industrialized countries to the much higher rank it once held. 

4. The American political milieu could use a fresh dose of what?

It could use a fresh dose of partisanship where there is mutual respect between parties, to replace the hyperpartisanship that has destroyed mutual respect and keeps elected officials from having civil discussions.  I worry that the lack of civility reflects the inability of big government to focus on what is best for the every day citizens.  Unfortunately the incentives are for politicians to pay more attention to what it takes to get reelected than determining what policies are best for the country. 

5.  If education is “leading out” (Latin), what may need greater emphasis in our schools?

There is a concern that I’ve had for a long time beginning with the inception of public schooling. It is with the legal and practical impact of the transformation of American education from a system of private schooling to a system dominated by government schooling.  When we had predominantly local control, parents were more involved.  Now that the funding is coming from and administration is being directed by the state and federal governments, there are more influences.  The federal government has its say. The state government has its say.  The highly compensated local school administrators have their say.  All this outside involvement has shifted education focus from the students to the institutions and blurred who is really accountable for educating the student. 

6. What did you find out about yourself and/or others during this COVID-19 pandemic?

This has been the first time since I retired over two decades ago that I have been doing things that I had planned to do when I retired.  I’m discovering things that I enjoy doing and the COVID pause has given me a chance to indulge in activities outside my normal routine.  It’s nice to have conversations with neighbors when Marilyn and I see them on our walks.  And we enjoy seeing school-age kids outside playing together in the neighborhood instead of being shipped out of the neighborhood for so many of their non-school activities.

7. What great value has been depreciated in the larger culture at great cost?

The dictionary says, “Character is mental and moral qualities distinctive to an individual.”  I believe it is something that every responsible individual has control over. More than any other qualities, character will define and shape the future of an individual, and I believe that it is the key to a person having dignity. I agree with my friend Larry Reed who says that character is indispensable for those who value liberty.  He makes the case, “If character is depreciated, liberty is in jeopardy.” No people who have lost their character have kept their liberty.  

8.  In 75 words or less, fashion a sales pitch for moving to Wichita.

Wichita is a buyers’ market.  For example, there are 62 restaurants within 1 ½ miles from our house with a tremendous variety of offerings.

More importantly, we have convenient access to abundant and quality art and music offerings. We have public and private schools, we have 3 colleges. We have a lot to appreciate. I’m grateful to see a new level of energy and the emergence of new community leaders.

  9. For posterity's sake, how do you hope fellow Wichitans will remember you?

That I greatly appreciated my family and friends and was intent on trying to advance an understanding of liberty.