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It was the summer of 1950 when most of my classmates were at the beach that I took a typing class in summer school. I did not like to practice typing at home so I would practice some, then go out and pitch horseshoes in my backyard, or play some tennis, and then go back in and resume typing practice. Although I became a much better horseshoe pitcher and tennis player than typist, my typing was good enough to be selected to write the Chemawa Junior High school news for the Riverside Press and Enterprise on a weekly basis. It was during this time that Dr. Edmund C. Jaeger made a request to my school to send him a student who could type for summer employment as an Assistant to the Author. I was the one selected. I remember the interview. I was on my way out of town for a short summer vacation to Yosemite National Park with my parents as we stopped at Dr. Jaeger’s home for my interview. I told him I would be available upon return from my vacation and he agreed and hired me on the spot. He said he could only afford $1.20 an hour, but I liked the working conditions in his cool home and was happy and fortunate to have such a nice summer job. (Vacations have always been a priority in my life and I have been fortunate enough to have visited all the states and 75 foreign countries so far.) During the remainder of the summer, Dr. Jaeger would write articles for Desert Magazine by hand at his desk and I would type them, prepare them for mailing, and mail them. He never had a rejection; every article was accepted and appeared in each issue on a monthly basis. This experience alone was responsible for me getting excited about writing articles of my own for magazine publication. I finally put an article together and got up enough nerve to show it to Dr. Jaeger for his comments. I told him if he thought it was good enough I would send it to some obscure publication like Greyhound News where I would have a better chance of getting it published. But he encouraged me to send it to a major publication so I selected the best one I knew of at the time,Travel magazine. I also understood they would make notes and corrections before sending it back which would be helpful to me in getting it published later in a more obscure publication. Much to my surprise, they accepted it! They sent me a check and I bought a new typewriter to write more articles. Over the years I have written several articles, both travel and scientific, sent them to major publications, and have never had a rejection! All this was due to my experiences with Dr. Jaeger that summer and his encouragement to me to try for the best. Also during that summer we worked on one of his books, A Sourcebook of Biological Names and Terms, and upon publication he gave me a personally autographed copy. He invited me on one of his Palavers and to date I have attended over 50 of them. He certainly got me interested in the desert and all the plants. When I built my new home, because of the effect he had on me, I planted the entire "front yard" with 117 different varieties of cacti and succulents. I now sell many of them to nurseries and florists. Some of my specimen cacti have sold for as much as $1,800 each (FOB my home) to landscapers. To this date, I still attend the Palavers whenever I am not on a major trip and occasionally give guided tours of the desert and the Jaeger Nature Sanctuary. Should you have any questions concerning my experiences with Dr. Jaeger, you may contact me at: raeburn2@yahoo.com. |
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