Anthony Waller:
CLASS OF 1969
Morgan Park High SchoolClass of 1969
Chicago, IL
St. Margaret of Scotland SchoolClass of 1965
Chicago, IL
Anthony's Story
A Reverse Order Bio
I guess there's not going to be a 50th reunion, or a 51st reunion or even the proposed multi-class reunion. So, I'll give you my "Life Story Since High School" in reverse order, since the most interesting time of my life has been the last three years.
Retirement led me to a decision to relocate to a college town after a career of moving all over the USA (see below). I had read that most guys who retire spend their time either playing golf, "goin' fishin'," or both. I don't do either. There are other possibilities available by moving to a college town. I wanted one with a benign climate and moderate cost of living. Chapel Hill North Carolina (home to U of NC) fit the bill. It's actually a double college town as it is immediately adjacent to Durham (home to Duke U); two major universities scarcely ten miles apart. The frosting on the cake is the plethora of health care options that the two make possible. I've since moved into the central city of the region, Raleigh. The bad thing about living in a college town is how paranoia broke out during covid. Otherwise, North Carolina is great. Glad I left Chapel Hill and moved to Raleigh.
I had returned to music over the preceding nine years after a derailment in my career had untracked me. I started playing with local amateur symphony orchestras and was surprised at the retention of my skill level. I even had an enhanced ability in handling mallet percussion parts (xylophone, etc.). Classical music was always my focus and depending on the group and its leadership, I learned a lot of minutiae I hadn't suspected the existence of. The California orchestra I was with had an extremely creative leadership that looked at things through a different lens. The New England group was at war with itself. But here in North Carolina, I have become involved in two orchestras of varying quality, offering opposite challenges.
In turn, a new centerpiece has become my focus. The regional classical music radio station put out an "alter call" for on-air talent. I didn't have the radio technical background, but I did have the on-air tools: the ability to speak familiarly of the program content and pronounce the numero...Expand for more
us European continental names. The result is I have my own show: Mondays and Wednesdays from 7:00P-12:00M (Eastern). Plus, I frequently "pinch-hit" when the time slot regulars feign illness. It's a lot of fun to launch a new career in retirement!
And one need not relocate to the Raleigh NC area to hear my on-air presence (Although there is a good quality of life here.). Our station broadcasts its programming over the internet. Log on to theclassicalstation.org (no spaces, no hyphens, and no underscores in that three word name) and click on "Listen" to stream the broadcast through your home computer or laptop. An alternative is to download the station's free app to your smart device from your app store under "WCPE The Classical Station" (It will ask for a credit card, but that's pro forma. The cost will be $0.00.). It's an extraordinary station that is among the last of a dying breed: the independent free-standing classical music station not affiliated with NPR or a college or university. Listen in sometime!
My career was that of a railroad operations consultant. This had me constantly moving around the country to a new city every 2-5 years. From Chicago, I moved to Los Angeles for two years; then to Boston for four years, then to NYC for two years (1999-2000). I commuted to my Manhattan office from Ridgewood NJ, but I was frequently doing fieldwork north of the city. Next stop was Princeton NJ, where I worked for a Think Tank on transportation issues for six years (much daydreaming involved). Then it was back to California, this time to Silicon Valley in the Bay Area. Here is where I met my dénouement. I wrote an article for a trade journal criticizing the controversial California High-Speed rail project which caused my dismissal, and I sought the solace of music. There was a final move to New Hampshire, but it amounted to professional exile.
I never married - never connected with anyone: my biggest disappointment. The several transcontinental moves to one city after another where I had no contacts other than the people I had just interviewed with stymied that. Overall, I do look back at different life adventures that leave good memories.
Give The Classical Station a listen. I think you'll like it.
Regards,
Tony Waller
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