JAMES FARMER 7-30-07
After all these years, I still haven't graduated from ELAJC. The
foregoing reference will tax your memories, class of '56. However, I did
(barely) manage to graduate from Caltech with a BS in Chemistry. I tried
a year of grad school in chemistry at BYU, but then I discovered molecular
biology. I transferred to Brown University (in Rhode Island, for you
westerners) where I "earned" a PhD in biology. My first job was in the
Dept. of Biophysics at the University of Colorado Medical Center in
Denver, where I met my wife Gladys. Three years later, with science
budgets being cut (due to the Viet Nam war), realizing that my salary was
coming from soft money, and with a pregnant wife, I decided to go for job
security and became a faculty member in the Dept. of Zoology at BYU. I
stayed there for 31 years (except for a sabbatical in the Dept. of
Genetics at University of California at Davis). Thanks to my son Jared, I
learned to love southern Utah and spent many days and nights driving,
hiking, and camping there. I still go there whenever I get the chance.
Gladys was an instructor in English Composition at BYU for about twenty
years. She managed to publish two books in that time as well as mothering
our children. She has really enriched my life.
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"Gladys in Roma" |
In 2000, we retired early to help our daughter Sarah in Boston, a single
woman, who had adopted a little girl from Bulgaria who had severe
adjustment problems. Over the years before retirement, I always said that
the stock market would crash the day that I retired. Was I a prophet? We
stayed in Boston four years and then moved to a townhouse in downtown Salt
Lake City. A year later, we moved to London, England (actually South
Kensington) for 18 months. Gladys organized noon-time concerts in the
Hyde Park Chapel (LDS) and taught organ and piano to future church
musicians. I worked in the Family History Centre running the office and
helping people find-- or try to find-- ancestors. Our patrons were a
diverse bunch-- we had the best Eastern European Jewish records, the best
Irish records, and the best Caribbean records in London. I learned a lot
about British genealogy, and a little about Irish, Jamaican, and Jewish
genealogy. I made a lot of friends from those areas, as well as west
Africa. Now (as of March 2007) we are back in SLC, where we can walk to
all sorts of musical events, art theaters, museums, and other cultural
events. We love both Boston and London, but we can't possibly afford to
live in either one. Fortunately, we also love SLC.
We have five children: Sarah, a medical writer in D.C.; Clark a professor
of cinema studies at University of Colorado; Rachel, an artist in NYC;
Jared, a professor of history at SUNY Stony Brook; and Deborah, a private
school teacher in NJ.
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"Jim and friend in
Paris" |
I published some good science papers, but nothing earth-shaking. My work
was primarily on genetics and biochemistry of bacteria and, later,
genetics and evolutionary genetics of Drosophila species. Also, I
described a genetic disorder in my own family, which is now known as
"Farmer syndrome". I taught several thousand students, including a lot of
present MD's, dentists, and scientists. There are a few I hope to never
look up and see while I am being wheeled into the operating room, but most
of them were bright, conscientious people.
I had always planned to be at the 50th reunion, but I was in London then--
a long trip back. Will there be any more?
(Update)
Last Tuesday Aug 19th 2008 I received word that James
had passed away......click here to view
James' obituary.......
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