Geoffrey Lupton:  

Life I worked for Southwestern Bell for ten years after college but all the time kept doing music on the side, as I had done in college. I married in 1983, and by 1985 had left SW Bell to work in music and run my own company, Rocksan Productions, full time. I'm still doing the same today, am still married and now have two beautiful little girls aged 12 and 10. I was at the 10 year reunion back in 81 and the "combination reunion" of 71,72 and 73 20 year reunion. Had an absolue blast at the 30 year in June of 2002. Unfortunately, I was diagnosed with colon cancer in October of 2002, had surgery to remove a little more than 1/2 of my large intestine, and then started chemotherapy in November of 2002, and will continue it to about June of 2003. I had a bad bacterial infection which hospitalized me from 12-20-02 to 1-3-03! What a drag! But I'm much better now, and when I finish chemo, my oncologist tells me I'll be completely cured, and will be getting regular check-ups to make sure I stay that way. By October 2004, my last colonoscopy showed clear, and my surgeon is giving me 3 years off from colonoscopies! My oncologist has found no recurrences, but I still see him quarterly (at least through 2007)and get a yearly physical and abdominal CAT scan. But, with all this, I'm healthier and stronger now then before my diagnosis, due to an improved diet and a lot more excercise. The latest change is I've sold my company, Rocksan Productions in March 2005, and have gone to work at the company that bought mine out. Its been quite an experience! I realized after a few months that I hadn't worked a 9 to 5 job since I left SBC 20 years ago! But with my new found health, I've been kicking along in this. My oldest daughter is following in my footsteps having enrolled in the Crystal Sea Drama Home School Co-op, and has already done 2 full length plays, 2 short scenes, and is not only acting and singing in the latest production, but choreographing some of it as well! In 2012, there was a bit of a set-back, as I was diagnosed with Kidney Cancer, but it was caught very early, and the tumor was destroyed with microwaves, and all tests since have shown it still inactive. School My 4 years at SW High Scho0ol in San Antonio were the typical high school experience, as it was in the years 67 to 71. I hung out with the "Valley High" kids, mostly military brats and "cool". (we were called the "surfers" by the farm kids at the school). I had a close clique of friends that included my football buddies Gary Hutton, John Pestello and Chris Irwin. I took a college oriented curriculum which included 4 years of math, science, English and history. In my sophmore year I started UIL competitions in Poetry Reading, Extemporaneous speaking, Persuasive speaking and debate. That year I took Second Place, Regional in Persuasive speaking, and got a scholarship to Texas A&I. In my junior year, a great change was made in my life. Due to my extracurricular activities in speech, drama, and now music, I ended my origianl desire to go into the Air Force, and decided to pursue a different course. I took 1st Place All Star Cast at the Regional level for acting the part of Capt. Keller in "The MIracle Worker." In the summer of my Junior year, I attended the 2 week Drama Workshop at SWTSU, and had my first class time under Ramsey Yelvington, who greatly influenced my desire to write. In my senior year I continued in Drama and began to jam with different musicans to broaden my musical horizons. I was selected President of the drama club, and was a harter member of the Thespian Society of SW High School. I also started to write poetry/songs, short stories and plays. I graduated with a GPA of 96.4, and was selected Highest Ranking Boy (a SW tradition when both the Valedictorian and the Salutatorian are girls; when both were boys, a Highest Ranking Girl was chosen). After another summer Drama workshop at SWTSU, I was determined to go there to study drama and particularly playwriting under Ramsey Yellvington. In the fall of 1971, I enrolled at Southwest Texas State University. College I came to SWTSU in the fall of 1971 and entered a Pre-Med course due to my parents desires. I was assigned to jackson Hall, and had a great time there, espcially when I moved to the 12th floor, and joined the 12th Floor Gang. We partied a lot, and I also had a lot of girlfriends! By the second semester I was having a lot of trouble, especially with Chemistry. I finally got fed up one day, told my chemistry teacher off and left the class, never to return. I decided I wanted to go back to my original desire of studying Drama at SWTSU. I was also playing in a band called "Mellow", mostly on weekends. I managed to sneak in a few music classes, the first formal music education i got since Jr. High. I told my parents about the change I wanted to make, and they said as long as I got certified to teach, it would be OK. So in the fall of '72, I started enrolling in all the theatre classes to pursue a drama degree. My GPA was at 1.8 due to failing chemistry (see above) and getting a "D" in Calculus (another non-favorite subject), and some "C"'s in Algebra I & II. But I relished the challange to bring it back up, and pursue my theatre ambitions. I spent the next four yaers learning everything about theatre arts, including Acting, directing, Playwrighting, Scene Design, Make-Up, Lighting and even Costuming! I loved it all, especially when we worked on doing productions of One-Acts and full length plays. I acted in many productions, often getting the lead roles in some One-Acts (although I always preferred playing character parts), and also worked technical parts in shows, mostly Lighting. For my Minor, I decided upon History, my favorite subject from High School. I actually wound up taking so much History courses, I could have double-Majored. In my Junior year, I finally took Playwrighting I & II, which was a great experience for me. Dr. David Rush was a great teacher and inspiration. He had me enter a competition to write a script for the show done at Aquarena Springs, and I won, and supposedly they used my play (and the score I included)for their productions there. I also was initiated into Alpha Psi Omega, which is the Drama Fraternity. Later that year I won the Best Supporting Actor award given by the frat to outstanding drama students. In the fall of my Senior year, I took Directing I & II which I also loved. Also that fall, Dr. Rush told me he had put my full length play "To What End?" on the fall schedule, and I should start re-writing it and work with the director and the play to get that kind of experience. Amazing! When it went on to some packed houses, and people laughed at all the jokes it was a moving experience for me. A great learning experience that one day I might utilize again. My Senior year I also did my student teaching, which was also a great learning experience. it also showed me I wanted to do something more than just teach. I graduated in the spring of '76, with a 3.1 GPA, and my BS in Theatre Arts/Education. Workplace I started off out of college teaching Jr. High, but was really feeling I didn't want to do that. I was playing in a band part time as well, and had some ambitions in that direction. I soon landed a job as a mail clerk at Southwestern Bell Telephone, and within six months had gotten into Service Represetative School, and moved up to that position. I spent the next 8 years as a Service Rep with great pay and benefits, and constantly got additional training on specialized services, to become an Advanced Rep, called on to help customers with special phone needs. I was part of the first experimental Phone Center Concept in San Antonio as well. All during this career, I played in bands on the side, sometimes 4 or more nights a week, which kept me pretty tired at work occassionally. At 8 years I tested and applied for a management posistion, and was put in the AMJD Program, in w...Expand for more