robert allman:
CLASS OF 1977
Port Angeles High SchoolClass of 1977
Port angeles, WA
robert's Story
I am Bob(by). Remember me ????
P.A. Activities:
Coca-Cola Bottling, Hurricane Ridge Ski Team, Olympic mountaineering, HTLC church group, Math and Science guy (mentor: John Kays), "Best Skipper", etc.
After we graduated, I spent the summer doing odd jobs to save up money for school. E.G. Charlie Boni (Class of '77) and I bucked hay bales for the Lotzgezells in Dungeness. Then I went out on a commercial fishing boat for awhile -- which was a total disaster. The following summer, I was lucky enough to get on pulling wood w/ the "green chain" crew at MR Timber. That worked out well and got me in excellent shape. I also spent one summer doing chemical titrations at night at ITT Rayonier -- as well as working briefly in the "doghouse" at Crown Z.
I started out in Pre-Engineering at WSU, rooming w/ Todd Green who later went on to study and practice medicine in eastern Washington. In the dormitory there, I met a guy from Forks (Jeff Hilt, ex-logger and quarterback for the Spartans) and we developed an instant bond. Jeff was instrumental as a study partner in physics, statics, and calculus w/ differential equations (which were all brutal). Then after making the Dean's List for two (2) years, we both transferred to the University of Washington, where I graduated in Materials Science and Engineering (Chemistry minor) w/ National honors in Student Speaking on my own campus research on "Solar Thermal Energy Storage in Molten Glass". (Jeff went on to train fighter pilots and fly F-16's in the Air Force after marrying his commanding officer. Now he flies jumbo jets for Alaskan Airlines).
The speaking award helped me to earn a full fellowship to the graduate school of Engr./Applied Science (UCLA) where I earned my M.S. Degree in one year, working with an advisor (UW alumni, now Director of the Princeton Materials Institute) who had served in the Turkish military. We were focused on the processing of high purity glasses and ceramics, producing a system of nanoparticles ("colloidal crystals" resembling precious opal) for use in high tech products designed for various applications in nanotechnology.
In L.A., while living near the beach in Santa Monica, I even had my moment on national television in the front row of the crowd during a live taping session of "Evening at the Improv". (Season 1; Episode # 36, Host: Monty Hall. See me in my bright blue shirt and light slacks having cocktails w/ a buddy).
I presented my M.S. Thesis work at a national conference in San Diego. Then after graduation, I was nominated to be an IBM Fellow, and spent one summer working at IBM T.J. Watson Research Center in Yorktown Heights (Westchester Cty.) New York. I spent what little free time I had that summer driving thru the country to Woodstock, and saw jazz artist Dave Brubeck perform live in a countryside barn for $5. On my last night there, I drove into the city and watched Dustin Hoffman and John Malkovitch perform live onstage in Arthur Miller’s “Death of a Salesman”. (Hoffman was truly amazing as an old man).
I moved back to the Seattle area and worked for two (2) more years on my Doctorate at UW (which I never finished due to lack of funding). I lived on Capitol Hill w/ my brother John, and spent most of my time in the UW Physics and Chemistry Libraries studying the transmission of waves and vibrations in crystalline solids. In 1985, I took my first job doing glass research in Tukwila for Flow Industries, Inc. -- developing novel glass compositions for guided lightwave transmission for use in multi-mode fiber optics and IR heat-seeking devices for missile guidance systems (SDI: “Star Wars” program).
I also worked as a plant engineer for a pilot plant operation near the Seattle Space Needle while living in a Capitol Hill view apartment overlooking Lake Union (driving a Porsche 911). Ironically, the company headquarters were located in an industrial park in Bothell, right next door to the company where my old hiking and climbing buddy (John Holm, Class of '77) was working in accounting. So when they transferred me to their laboratory up there, we were running together everyday at noon (3 - 4 miles).
After that job, I spent 4 years as owner / operator of on an art gallery near the Seattle waterfront in Pioneer Square (long story there). During my tenure at The Robert Allman Gallery of Fine Arts, I had the good fortune to come into contact with several of my favorite celebrities. I was standing outside of my First Avenue location one day when Matt Dillon happened to walk by. I called out his name to get his attention, and he simply scowled at me. In that same period, Kevin Bacon was roller skating past my door regularly on his way to our health club, where I made direct eye contact with him later while he observed me playing competitive paddle ball on the roof w/ my favorite trainer.
Finally, I came home one night from a long weekend at a buddy's house near Redondo Beach, and there was ribbon placed in front of my gallery doorway. When I asked around, they told me they were shooting a film w/ Jeff Bridges ("American Heart") and that if I would stay out of their way, then they would introduce me to him later (after hours) at the J & M Cafe/Cardroom on the corner. So I agreed, and I observed Mr. Bridges carefully from across the street as he repeatedly stumbled out of Larry's Greenfront w/ a small guitar case in his hands (a 3 second "take" in the actual film). But later on I was too burnt for the nightlife, and blew my chance to say howdy doo.
Ironically, in one of my favorite films by Director Sydney Pollack ("The Fabulous Baker Boys") Jeff Bridges plays a hard-drinking musician living in Pioneer Square and playing classy lounge gigs in the Seattle area with his far more conservative (and real life) brother: Beau Bridges. His apartment in the film is located at the east end of Pioneer Square Park (on Occidental Avenue). And his window looks directly across the park to my old second-story gallery space on Washington St., where I also had a balcony which opened up directly into the alleyways of the city behind me. ( I sometimes hosted sculpture installations there).
When I folded the gallery (tired of the "salesman" life), I moved back home to P.A. and spent the next several years working in the woods. E.G. I worked for the DNR on the Spotted Owl program, living in their bunk house in Forks. The best part about that job was tuning up my skills in map and compass travel. They even gave me a nice new magnetic compass - which I used for years after that while hiking and climbing (mostly alone) in the east side of the Olympics: Palo Alto Road, Upper Dungie Trailhead, helped rebuild Boulder Shelter, explored the Constance massif, summited on Warrior Peak w/ a few Seattle Mountaineers, etc. in the mid-90's.
Then John Holm and I did the entire Bailey Range together one last time just before the 20-year class reunion in August 1997. In years past, we always entered by way of the Sol Duc River and High Divide, exiting via Whiskey Bend. But that year, we entered from Olympic Hot Springs and Appleton Pass (the original Herb Crisler route) which allowed us to avoid any contact with the tourists and Park rangers.,
Later on, we did the entire Del Monte Ridge traverse -- connecting the Dungie to the Royal Basin area. And in that same time period, I took my brother John in the Dungie and we crossed the Park by hiking up over Constance Pass, dropping down thru Sunnybrook Meadows to the Dosewallips River, hiking up to Dose Meadows, moving over into Lost Basin (where I encountered my old PAHS biology teacher Ron Hudiberg afer having a dream about him the night before) and Cameron Basin, and finally up over Grand Pass and out via the Moose Lake trail to Obstruction Point -- where our parents were waiting to pick us up.
I bought an old Land Cruiser in Aberdeen which was rebuilt w/ a Chevy 350 engine block, and set a few chokers on the West End (near Goodman Creek). But mainly I worked on the Lazy “J” Treefarm in the Dungeness Valley for Steve Johnson -- who I also did a lot of hiking with.Then my father retired (sold the 8th St. Clinic to Virginia Mason of Seattle) and a few months later my grandmother died in my arms at OMH.
That same year, Craig Munkeby (from Franklin School Cub Scout Baseball Championships and PAHS Class of '77) sold me a nice Chevy Suburban w/ a new transmission. I spent the following summer using it to haul and yard out light timber (mostly crooked Alder) from the grossly overgrown woods in front of my parents' "estate" above the high school. Chad Wilson hooked me up with a fresh logging site on Dan Kelly Ridge (Hermann Bros.) where I could haul out free cedar posts using my new saw. So I put up new fence around the family property to keep out the horses from the field next door. Then in the Fall, I began my career teaching mathematics (College Algebra) and Chemistry (when Phil Churchley retired) at Peninsula College.
I taught there in P.A. for two (2) years before getting my first Online teaching assignment at Edmonds CC (North Seattle) in “Technical Writing for Engineers” via a fellow alumni of my UW program. There I received in-house training in the methods of Distance Learning and Course Webpage Design using HTML Code. That is when I purchased my own domain, and began building my own tutorial website in chemistry, which has grown over the last 15 years to one of the largest scientific tutorial websites on the Internet. (In fact, I am using it now as a text book to teach the Principles of Chemistry in China).
I spent much of the Winter of '99 driving across Whidbey Island and up thru Sumas, traversing north/south along the Coguahalla Highway to the town of Kelwona B.C. where I was attending to an Online romance which began after "chatting" for less than 3 minutes with an artist there. It was definitely "love at first chat".
Then in the year 2000, I ...Expand for more
attended an open house in Bremerton, where I was invited to teach Chemistry at Olympic College for both science and non-science majors. When I first moved into a small A-frame in the "boot" of Hood Canal (near Belfair) I thought I was in heaven. Then 2 years on Erlands Point (near Chico) and finally in Manchester.
One year later, sincerely interested in becoming a full professor, I was encouraged to enroll in the PLU Dept. of Mathematics, where I focused on Fourier’s theory of wave propagation -- and its applications in describing lattice dynamics and thermal phonons in crystalline solids. With my new degree, I was hired as Online Professor of Math/Chem at Kaplan University (Fort Lauderdale) where I designed a course in the “Foundations of Science” for Criminal Justice majors. (In fact, my notes in Forensic Chemistry have been used by the U.S.Government for personnel training).
In my third year at Kaplan, while living w/ my father in Port Angeles (after my mother died from Parkinson's) I spent my winter break publishing full-length articles on “Colloidal Crystals” and “Transparent Materials” on the Internet Wikipedia. In the following months, I published over a dozen such full-length articles – primarily in materials science (e.g. “Solids”, “Crystal structure”, the “Glass transition”) and chemical synthesis (e.g. “Sol-gel chemistry”).
After nearly 5 years at Kaplan, as the first Chemistry instructor and senior-most member of the growing KU Online Science Program, I became painfully aware of: 1) substandard academic requirements; 2) lack of job placement; 3) increasing student debt load; and 4) widespread criticisms regarding false claims and unethical recruiting tactics. Due to a conflict of interest, I left Kaplan, and eventually decided to seek work abroad.
I am now teaching Math & Science fulltime in the People’s Republic of China, where the demand for English speaking instructors has exploded. After receiving numerous offers, I agreed to a full year contract. I teach at the high school level to students who are preparing to enter the American University environment. At the age of 13 – 16 years old, many of these students already have the equivalent of two (2) years of University training in Math/Phys/Chem.
It is my job to be sure that they can do it in English, in order to pass the qualifying exams for the top Universities. (In my humble opinion, with these students entering the market, most lazy American students do not have a ghost of a chance in the academic arena). I live and eat on campus -- cooking much of my own meat on an open-flamed wok. I use taxi cabs for downtown navigation when necessary -- as I may never drive again (too much hassle and CO2 production).
I have never married, but been in love several times (starting w/ the pastor's daughter: Ann Stockman in the 9th grade). The closest I ever came was a country gal from Maple Valley (Susie McCray) who turned out to be the cousin of my friend (and co-poker player) Robbie Knudson (Class of '77: remember the HomeComing Arm Wrestling eliminations ?). Susie and I dated on and off for almost 7 years before she finally gave up on me. I was just never ready to support a family financially. I also fell in love in L.A. (she was the fellowship candidate the previous year from the Bay area) and had two relationships going at the same time (not to mention a few chance encounters on campus).
And yet, believe it or not, I have been blessed with a full-grown son, who I am extremely proud of. He is the product of a UW romance, just before I was leaving for California (and just before I met Susie). Due partially to uncertainties regarding his origins (ahem) he was put up for adoption, and raised by wonderful parents in Effingham, IL, who were focused on both music and religion.
Jared is an extremely talented musician, starting college on a trumpet-playing scholarship and also playing classical piano. He put himself through private school in St. Louis -- graduating w/ a double major in Political Science and Philosophy of Religion. He is clearly one of the best lead blues guitarists I have ever heard. His collection of old vinyl record albums is phenomenal, as is his knowledge of both music and baseball (major Cubs fan, he still attends live games).
He found his biological mother through the use of the Internet, and she placed me in contact with him just before he turned 21 years old. Our birthdays are 7 days apart, and his high school photo is a carbon copy of old PAHS dance pictures w/ Dani. (No DNA testing necessary on this one. He is definitely a product of yours truly).
Since then, we have been in regular contact, and I hope to visit he and his attractive young wife Shaelyn in their new home at least once year on my new salary and annual travel reimbursement from the PGA (Project Global Access) Program. In fact, I have just learned that they are planning to have a child in March of 2014. At that time, I will become a grandfather :-)
Jared is the Associate Pastor and Musical Director at Church of the Nazarene in Tulsa, and his wife Shaelyn teaches the 2nd grade nearby. He spends much of his time playing & singing in a rock and roll band there, for which the church pays him very well. My old sweetheart Terri also lives nearby, and is married to a policeman there w/ two beautiful children. He is truly my pride and joy, and has so far managed to do many of the other things in life that I always wanted to do myself.
One of the most bizarre stories comes from Terri, who claims that she saw me having lunch in Oklahoma City on the very day that I was actually there. I was driving back from my summer job with IBM, and had gone down thru the south to visit a potential doctoral program in Austin -- and then see my relatives in Dallas before visiting another young professor working in my field at OK State in Stillwater. OK City lies directly in the pathway, so I am sure that I stopped there for a bite. She swears that it was me, and claims that she did not speak to me because she was with her new husband. (I only learned about this a few months ago).
Jared has also determined (as I always suspected) that we are indeed related to the legendary Allman Brothers: Duane and Gregg. He claims to be the “seventh son” in a string of firstborn males which began many years ago on a small farm in Tennessee. It is worth noting that my parents were both from the Dallas / Fort Worth area. My grandfather, Robert Moss Allman Sr. was a Chemical Engineer for Proctor and Gamble. His father was the Assistant Superintendent for Public Schools in Macon County, GA -- where Gregg & Duane lived after being raised in Jacksonville FL by their mother.
I plan to teach for many years to come if possible. And I also plan to finally realize my true dream -- which is to travel the world. I have been fascinated by Russia ever since Bobby Fisher beat Borris Spassky in chess in Iceland when we were in high school (& I was playing regularly w/ Bob Chamberlain at their lake cabin). I would also like to see Europe (including London and Ireland) and get a glimpse of both the Himalayas as well as the Swiss (or Austrian) Alps. If I am not buried in the Ocean View Cemetery next to my grandmother in P.A., then I would settle for a nice orchard somewhere near the coast of southern France.
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Favorite artists:
The French Impressionists
Favorite films:
Steven Spielberg: "Jaws"
John Huston: "Moby Dick"
Roman Polanski: "Chinatown"
Walter Hill: "Hard Times"; "48 Hrs"
Ridley Scott: “Blade Runner”; "Alien"
Fred Zinneman: "The Day of the Jackal"
Stanley Kubrick: “2001: A Space Odyssey”
Peter Fonda/Dennis Hopper: "Easy Rider"
Sydney Pollack: "Jeremiah Johnson"; "3 Days of the Condor";
"Out of Africa"; "Fabulous Baker Boys"; "Michael Clayton"
Ingmar Bergman (in Swedish): "The Seventh Seal";
"Persona"; "The Virgin Spring"; "Wild Strawberries"
Sam Peckinpah: “Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid”
(soundtrack by Bob Dylan -- who is featured in the film)
Orson Welles: “The Trial”; "The Stranger"
Favorite books:
1) Arthur C. Clarke: “2001: A Space Odyssey”
(Mom convinced me to read it — could not put it down)
2) Jon Krakauer: “Into the Wild”
(Dad gave me his own copy -- have read it repeatedly)
3) James Michener: “Alaska”
(Read first while “on sabbatical” in the basement of the Clallam Cty. Courthouse)
4) William Golding: "Lord of the Flies"
5) Annie Priouxl: "The Shipping News"
6) Milan Kundera: "Unbearable Lightness of Being"
Favorite albums:
1) Chicago II, III, VII
2) Aerosmith: Original
3) Ted Nugent: "Stranglehold"
4) April Wine: "The Whole World's Going Crazy"
5) Pink Floyd: "Wish You Were Here", "Animals"
Others notable recording artists:
Elvis Presley, The Beatles, The Beach Boys, David Bowie, Jackson Browne, BST, Chase, Eric Clapton, Cowboy Junkies, Cracker, CCR, CSNY, Dire Straits, The Doors, Bob Dylan, The Eagles, Elton John, Fleetwood Mac, The Guess Who, Guns 'n' Roses, Heart, Indigo Girls, Chris Isaac, The Kinks, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Madonna, Joni Mitchell, Montrose, Alan Parsons, Tom Petty, Queen, Linda Ronstadt, REO Speedwagon, The Rolling Stones, Sade, Santana, Bruce Springsteen, Patti Smith, Steely Dan, Styx, Supertramp, George Thorogood, The Tragically Hip, U2, UFO, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Van Halen,The WallFlowers, The Who, Wilson Phillips, Stevie Winwood, Neil Young, and ZZ Top.
Favorite Music video:
1) U2: "Rattle and Hum"
2) Elton John: "To Russia With Love"
(solo keyboards w/ percussionist)
3) Led Zepelin: "The Song Remains the Same"
4) Andrew Lloyd Weber: "Jesus Christ Superstar"
Best recent hit single:
Adele: "Rolling in the Deep"
(2010)
Favorite actress:
Kate Winslett (Oh, God........)
Favorite Actor / Director:
George Clooney or Ben Affleck
Favorite musician:
Jared Chesnut
(my son)
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