“My grandfather was raised on a small farm in northern Canada, but during WWI joined the Royal Canadian Air Force and became a decorated war hero. He then became a teacher of aeronautics and was a passionate supporter of reading and learning. He was my childhood hero. His three children grew up to be a notable physicist, a world-renowned geologist, and a paleontologist. My mother was the paleontologist, who gave up her career to raise her children.

I remember my grandfather visiting local used bookstores in Santa Barbara to buy paperback books, so his grandchildren would read them while spending summers on his farm. He ran a small lemon and avocado grove at that time. That system worked! The grandkids grew up earning 6 master’s degrees and three doctoral degrees.”