| "The movement to bring dignity to older men has started. You can be a part of bringing it to fruition." |
| A Few Writings |
P R O F I L E
After retirement and a short (planned that way) successful experience of running my own business; I stopped working (for money that is) in 1984. A series of fortunate experiences led up to my founding Prime Timers on August 15, 1987 and that has provided me with the best retirement a guy could have. I often think I work harder now than I did when I was being paid, but what a great experience Prime Timers has been. We moved to Austin Texas in 1989. While I was teaching, the students once did an article for the school paper and they asked several professors to describe their life in one word and I said "lucky". And whatever luck is, I still believe that. I had a wonderful family life. We were poor; but, as Loretta Lynn would say, "there was love". Even though I worked eight hours a day all through high school, I have never resented it because I learned a lot about life that my affluent friends had no opportunity to learn. I consider my education to have been excellent; and, professionally, I seemed to always be in the right place at the right time with the result that I had an enviable career. And creating and working with Prime Timers has been one of the most satisfying experiences a person could have. This is not to say there have not been a few speed bumps in my life but they were minor ones. Yes, I have been extremely lucky or else someone "up there" really likes me a lot. And that gives me the optimism I need to face the future. Woody HOW ONE HIGH SCHOOL COURSE
My shorthand teacher was the dean of women and the class was at 1 p.m. In those days returning late from lunch was a worse sin than having a baby out of wedlock is today. Each guilty gal had to see the dean, so my teacher was frequently called out of class. She had the class elect a substitute teacher on those occasions when she had to perform as dean of women. For no reason I can think of, the class elected me. To that point I had been struggling to just get by in the shorthand class; I was not doing well in the subject at all. But with this new responsibility, I spent every spare minute I could find working on my shorthand with the result that I became very good at it. (Spare minutes were not easy to find because I worked in a drug store 8 hours a day all through high school). When I graduated and was going to Amarillo Junior College , she wrote an unsolicited letter in my behalf to the chairman of the secretarial studies department about this "shorthand whiz” who was going to be attending. I took another course in shorthand there and became the "teacher’s pet" and when I decided to go to the University of Oklahoma, she wrote an unsolicited letter to the department chairman there about this "shorthand whiz" who would be attending O.U. The chairman at O.U. was working on his doctorate and had a graduate course conflict with a shorthand course he was to teach. He hired me to teach the course; I even had the responsibility of supervising 6 practice teachers. I was only a junior in college myself. He and I became good friends and kept in touch while we were in the service, writing occasionally and I even spent a weekend with him and his wife when we were both stationed in New jersey. He was an officer in the Navy; and I was a non-com in the Army. A very real part of my planning was to live in California. As I neared discharge, he was stationed in California, I wrote and told him I wanted to get my masters degree; should I go to UCLA, Southern Cal, Cal Berkeley or Stanford? He asked for a month and he'd write back. When he wrote he said in our field it was UCLA head and shoulders. So, off I went to UCLA. He wrote an unsolicited letter to the head of the Business Education department about this "shorthand whiz" who was coming there to do graduate study. When I had been there less than a semester, my new department chairman hired me as a teaching assistant in shorthand. I had not finished my first semester in that position when the regular shorthand teacher retired; the chairman asked if I would like a permanent position on the faculty. What a break for a guy who had not even finished his masters degree to be hired onto the faculty of such an esteemed university! I was then obligated to get a doctorate if I were to teach on the college level. It was inevitable that the Gregg Publishing Company would hear of this "shorthand whiz" at UCLA and hired me for a summer as a ghost writer on a textbook that was being revised. That led to an offer to author a text. (The royalties from that book paid for the house I later bought in Boston.) How did the "whiz" get to Boston? The president of the Gregg company, gave a speech at UCLA and invited me for a drink after his performance. By this time I had taught at UCLA for ten years. He asked if I would consider leaving there for a very good job on the East coast. I was extremely happy where I was, but he went on to tell me of a deanship in a fine women's college in Boston. He elaborated by telling me that both his wife and secretary were graduates of Simmons College. He asked if I would be willing to visit the college, so I said I would; but even though I had no thought of leaving UCLA, my connection with Gregg Publishing Company was something I valued also. He immediately in my presence called the president of Simmons and said, "I've found the ideal person to head your School of Business". All my degrees in business gave me the depth, he thought, to chair a school of management. I went, liked what I saw and spent 26 years until retirement in 1982. My entire professional life had been influenced by my election as substitute teacher in my high school shorthand class. Talk about luck!! Congregation points finger When I was growing up in a conservative Baptist church, we were taught that love, compassion and brotherhood were the basic tenets of Christianity. The full-page ad by the Christ Memorial Baptist Church in the Sept. 9 newspaper is just another example of how the church has done an about-face and now is more in the business of hate and bigotry than in love and brotherhood. In the "good old days" when the church taught love, we did not have to worry about crime the way we do today. When some Baptists are blaming everyone else for the decline in morals of the American people, those Baptists should look in the mirror, open their closed minds and see that they are part of the problem - not the solution. Thank God my God still loves; and if I go to hell, I will have the satisfaction of knowing it was not for hypocrisy and spreading of hate. WOODY BALDWIN State interfered with rights of social workers Governor Dukakis and the members of the Legislature surely would not want a group of social workers telling them how to make laws for the Commonwealth, yet the governor and Legislature seem to consider themselves fully qualified to tell social workers what constitutes a satisfactory foster home. It seems unconscionable to me that a group of lay people are telling trained, experienced professionals how to make judgments in their own area of expertise. I have always been a supporter of Dukakis, and guess I still am, but his disrespect for professionalism in this instance has certainly forced me to look more carefully at his moves in the future. All professionals should find this recent action of the governor and Legislature threatening to their right to make decisions within their own professions. It is frightening, if the state can dictate to social workers what their decisions must be, then it can invade another professional area in the same way WOODROW W. BALDWIN Let a thousand poets bloom I take umbrage with Don McLeese's review of the Austin International Poetry Festival. I am a 77-year-old who has judged a number of poetry slams and never ceased to be amazed at the creativity, skill of word usage, knowledge and understanding of events that happened during my lifetime but before they were born, and the dramatic as well as literary talents of these poets. McLeese says, "I have too much respect for poetic tradition to defile it with amateur spew." Is he saying there should be no junior league baseball? Athletes chould not appear publicly until they have achieved professional skills? Does he mean there should be no forum for amateurs of any endeavor? Comparing the poetry festival with a City Council meeting smacks of one of the worst metaphors I have experienced. I would prefer to think of it as an Olympic tryout. McLeese quotes someone as saying, "There are no bad poets, just bad judges." Perhaps this should read, "There are no bad poets or judges, just bad critics." He calls himself an elitist; perhaps we're dealing in semantics, but I would call it snobbery. WOODY BALDWIN Will's pompous column Look who's talking! George Will's partisan criticism of U.S. Senate-elect Jim Webb's grammar is laughably absurd (Dec. 3 column, Telegraphing insults with simple gestures). At least people know what he is saying, which is more than can be said of Will's polysyllabic words that are obviously designed to impress. I quote from his opening paragraph, "Washington has a way of quickly acculturating people, especially those who are most susceptible to derangement by the derivative dignity of office." Will someone translate that for me, please? And he had the gall to call Webb a "pompous poseur"! WOODROW W. BALDWIN
OUR GENERATION'S LEGACY CHIRON RISING
Today's young people have not had to live, to the extent we did, in the dreadful fear of discovery, which in itself would almost surely ruin a career, alienate the family and turn the well-meaning upstanding citizen into a leper-like loner. Today's gays enjoy freedom that yesterday's young gays could not even imagine. There is still a long way to go before gays can be accepted as occupying a normal place in society. But, sad to say, even the liberated gay society has in general turned its back on the folks who endured the greatest hardships — yes, even fought the first battles for sexual freedom. If the guys who fought back at Stonewall are living today, they would probably be in their 50s at least. Heroes? They should be and they are in the legend; but, if today they walked into a bar populated with young men, would they be welcomed with open arms? You know the answer. And it is difficult for us to throw stones because in our day we were just as disrespectful of our elders, calling them "aunties" and "old queens." Not only are older men not respected, they are even made to feel unwelcome in their own society. Intimidated? You bet! Frustrated? You bet! Bitter? In most cases, you bet! We're all still fighting for freedom of sexual orientation. But as older men, we have one more battle to fight, and you — yes, you — can be a hero on that battlefield. People like Albert Schweitzer or Martin Luther King were not super humans. They were composed of the same parts as you and I. One would doubt that either of them, when they embarked on their humanitarian objectives, expected to occupy a place in history of revered and respected immortality. They saw a need and they did something about it. I am not suggesting that we should all be an Albert Schweitzer — or even a Harvey Milk, Leonard Matlovich or John McNeill — but, in the battle to bring the older gays the acceptance they deserve you — yes, you — can make a difference. Pat Colley and “The Friar” helped pioneer the movement to bring recognition, respect and a feeling of worth to the older generation of gays and bisexuals. They made us feel desirable again. Pat and “The Friar” aren't super humans either, even though they are super nice guys. They are everyday fellows like you and me who had a dream. Like the heroes, they saw a need and did something about it. In my own small way, I've erased a guilt feeling I had about the fact that others were fighting the battles for my gay rights while I hid in my secure closet. In 1987 I started PRIME TIMERS, the organization for older gay and bisexual men. Even though I have realized only a fraction of what I wanted to achieve before my number comes up, I have the satisfaction of having started a small snowball that is slowly becoming a bit bigger. With each passing year I have hope that within my lifetime I will see a nationwide network of PRIME TIMERS chapters and will be able to say, "I made a contribution." Because of PRIME TIMERS, my retirement years are richer than I ever dreamed possible, and I am sure I am a much younger septuagenarian than I would have been if I had not embarked on this life-enriching commitment to bringing social opportunities to older gay and bisexual men. Through CHIRON RISING, PRIME TIMERS and similar organizations, a beginning has been made to bring dignity to older men and it is gaining momentum, strength, size and importance. Here is the important message: It is within our grasp to be the generation that brought respect to older men. In every population center are untold numbers of lonely older men who have fallen between the cracks of gay society and would love to read about and enjoy companionship with other men. Do you realize that in this same community there are many lonely older men who have lost their long-term mates and desperately need to meet other similar men to share their experiences and to lighten their loads? They can't discuss. their loneliness with family the way “straights” can. Do you realize that there are many lonely older male couples who hunger for companionship of other simpatico men of their vintage? They would even travel if they knew they had friends in other places. Do you want to enjoy the feeling that you made a difference? It is possible. Maybe you don't feel you've enjoyed that fifteen minutes of fame that Andy Warhol said everyone has. But you can still have it. It doesn't take education; it doesn't take money. It takes guts and commitment. You could introduce your friends to CHIRON RISING, or organize the older gay and bisexual men in your community into a chapter of PRIME TIMERS, or urge your local gay newspaper to write about both organizations as a public service. You could contribute not only to the life enrichment of many guys, but to your own sense of accomplishment and pleasure as well. You would have paid your debt to society; perhaps most importantly, you would have helped to raise forever the class of older men from the pits to their rightful place in society. We've all known men who have become very bitter toward gay society. Rejection is not easy to take with a smile. But if enough of us decided we could make a difference by bringing pleasure to the older men in our community, we could make life a lot more rewarding — not only for our own generation but coming ones as well. Bringing older men back into a respected place in the mainstream of gay society is within our reach as at no other time in history. Give a damn! Exert some effort and accept my money-back guarantee that you'll have a whole new outlook on old age, on being gay or bisexual, on life itself! Do it for yourself; do it for your less fortunate peers; do it for the present and future gay societies. But do it. The older fellows we bring back into the gay society may well be the swing votes that will get gay rights in your city or state. There are literally tens of thousands of men out there who want to meet you either through correspondence or in person. You' are desirable to many more people than you realize. Publications and clubs for older men are taking us oldsters off the shelf and into the mainstream. You'll feel younger. Life will become less monotonous. You'll meet other vibrant, sexually active, caring people who are anxious to stay healthy, happy, independent and productive for a long time to come. If you're retired or thinking about retirement, you have been told repeatedly to keep busy. Maybe it has become a cliché that you choose to ignore. Listen and heed! It is more than true; it is gospel. And what better way to stay active than to contribute to a better world for gays and bisexuals, yourself included. The movement to bring dignity to older men has started. You can be a part of bringing it to fruition. Shakespeare said that all the world's a stage and all the men and women merely players. Don't settle for being just a player; help write the play! Woody Baldwin Where does Woody Baldwin stand on the subject of sex, in regards to the Prime Timer chapters?
Chapters have fallen apart on the subject of sex parties. Most chapters have, as a part of their membership roster, an opportunity for the member to indicate his interests in a number of activities. These generally list some sexually-oriented interests such as nudity, sexual events, etc. When chapters have come to me for advice: I tell them that in regards to events such as these; to let those who want to participate do so as a non-chapter sponsored event. In other words, it is not advertised in their chapter newsletter. If there are those who wish to have a nude gathering; they check the membership roster to find those who have checked nudism, and contact them individually. I see this no different than a person trying to find a bridge foursome. That is what the roster is for. When a group caters to a class (such as "gay" and "bisexual"), it would be naive to assume that there will not be instances of sexual behavior. In our Austin chapter, as I hope is true of other chapters, at our general meetings mention of sex is never made, except perhaps as humor. This does not rule out having other organizations that cater to gays speaking to the group about their activities. As one visitor said, "It could be a meeting of the Rotary". Where does Woody Baldwin stand on sex? I do not condemn those persons who choose ways of expression that are different from mine. As long as they are not hurting others by their behavior, and are not molesting children, I remain a "live and let live" sort of person. Cheers! [Editorial note: Woody Baldwin wrote for this magazine under a pseudonym, so that he could express himself more vocally about subjects considered taboo at the time.] I WAS JUST THINKING
I was just thinking: Have I progressed in my religious beliefs or am I moving closer to a "forever" that offers only burning in hell with no Solarcaine. Like everything else, it depends on who's reading this, I guess. I like to think the choice does not have to be one or the other. This will probably flood the magazine's mailbox with outpourings of shock that would make the Philippines earthquake look like an early manifestation of palsy. But say it I will: I have never understood what religion has to do with sex, and vice versa. I was raised in the Bible Belt with all the fundamentalist trappings. As a kid, I wondered about the geographical expansiveness of a hell that could accommodate everyone who swore, played cards, danced -- not to (dare I?) mention masturbated, fucked out of wedlock and (what must be the worst sin of all, as it was not even mentioned in a cleaned-up way) sucked a cock. The words in themselves were so offensive even to contemplate that the church leaders would obscure their meanings by using expressions that served only to confuse and often result in the complete loss of their meaning. I was in high school before I dared to begin to think for myself on religious matters and to decide that mine was a god of love, not hate, and that somehow all these "sins" really did mesh with love. So in college I moved to a slightly less restrictive church, one in which I could now do blasphemous things like play bridge and dance without having to get my ticket to hell punched. But I still was reducing my chances of ever hobnobbing with Gabriel every time I jerked off, which was often, or (perish the thought) fucked or sucked. The older I got the less I could see how sucking and fucking related to religion. Again, my god was not communicating to me disaster if I engaged in satisfying my carnal desires, so I "outgrew" even that church. I progressed or regressed to having my own personal religion because organized religion did not seem to fit into what my god and I considered to be natural and productive. So I stayed away from organized religion entirely for some thirty years. This was comfortable but not entirely fulfilling. Then I discovered a very liberal church that never threatens with either heaven or hell, but instead encouraged me to think. No religion I had experienced before ever gave me leeway to think; the church spoon-fed all my religion and I was obligated to believe as the church dictated. This new freedom allowed me and my god (who I had begun to think was unique only to me) to be comfortable in our relationship. What was even more important, I could have sex in any way that would not bring harm to an individual (adult, that is) and it was of no concern to the church whatsoever. As a matter of fact they were concerned only that I should not be a victim of prejudice because I was gay. I was convinced I had found the best of all religions.[I joined the Unitarian Universalist Church.] It has taken me all these years to find my niche again in religion. With this church, I am having the best of all worlds and I am religious with no guilt! I have nothing but positive vibes. I have destroyed my punch card to hell. I'm not going there. I'm going to church instead! [Editorial note: Woody Baldwin wrote for the magazine under a pseudonym, so that he could express himself more vocally about subjects considered taboo at the time. Note the humorous approach to a taboo subject.] I WAS JUST THINKING
One of the first I remember is that if I masturbated, I would go crazy. The result was that I kept the activity up, but now with anxiety. I worried myself almost into dementia through fear that I had already done it too much before I learned what the consequences would be. But maybe I turned that negative into a positive by figuring that if I were going crazy anyhow from having already done it too much, I may as well enjoy my sanity while it lasted. That was many masturbations ago; and, while some may disagree, I think I am still reasonably in possession of my marbles. So forget that theory. Then I heard the old chestnut that it would make me blind. Goodness knows, if that were true I would have had a seeing eye dog long ago. It was this theory that gave rise to the joke "But can't I do it just until I need glasses?" Can you visualize a world of all blind people groping (if you'll excuse the expression) our way around each other? So forget that theory too. Then we finally learned that that slimy stuff that was emitting from our mature organs was the stuff that made babies. What a rash of theories that produced! One of them I remember is that each time we played with ourselves we deprived our someday child of one part of his body. Again that failed to set off any manifest reforms of my masturbation behavior I guess I rationalized that eventually I'd waste away one entire baby and then I could stop when I began the new one. I don't recall how I reckoned that I was going to know when one baby stopped and the second began. Perhaps my sexual orientation can be blamed on my original information that straight people had sex only when they wanted to have a baby. With my constant state of horniness, I simply had to find a lifestyle that would allow more frequent opportunities than that. Perhaps my compassion today for straight people is a holdover of those years that I felt such pity for them for being able to have sex only on such a restricted basis. Five children — five times for climactic sex. Who the hell could live with that??!! The one that I urgently find most useful is "If you don't use it, you lose it." Fear of loss provides all the rationale I need for self-abuse. And who labelled it "abuse?" Do you mean that all those dirty old men who did such wonderful things to me as a young man were abusing me? And all the time I thought abuse was bad. By that definition, abuse me, please, abuse me. This poor old man is sending out a plea for sympathy. At any given moment now I may go blind, lose my sanity, get pregnant or all of the above. I'll let you know what happens!
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The main biographical sketch is accessed through the top pull down menus, while below are a few of the original materials.
RUMINATIONS:
LuckyProfessional Life
Ltrs to Newspapers
A Poem
THE HISTORIC LIFE:
An Old House . . .
Early Self Profile
Boston Dines Out
Popcorn Professor
ACADEMICS:
Early Education
Doctoral Dissertation
Mardi Gras King
Simmons College
Dynamic World
of . .
Student Accolades
Who's Who
AMS Director
ACRA Life Member
Photo Gallery
Woody's Blog
http://woodybaldwin.
blogspot.com/
Prime Timers
Commemorative Coin
Contact
It is only the members of the older generation of gays who are privileged to understand what the sexual liberation of the sixties has done to enrich the gay experience. 
