For a couple of years in the early 70’s, I fiddled with the Wild Turkey String Band, led by Dick Kimmel, who played banjo and mandolin. Kitty took up banjo and became quite proficient. At WVU there has always been a vibrant culture of old-time music and dance.

I taught at West Virginia University for ten years. I developed a special interest in gerontology, the study of aging. In 1977, Kitty and I took a leave for field research in southern West Virginia, on the subject of aging in the Black community. At that pointm we had three young children. The decision to study in the Black community was motivated in large part by a desire do accommodate our Black adopted daughter, Amy.

My father died suddenly in 1978. His death, in combination with my growing dissatisfaction with the academic world, mark a personal crisis that led directly to my decision to resign from the faculty at West Virginia University just as I was granted tenure. I never wrote a report of my study in the Black community in southern West Virginia.

Thus ended my "first" career.