Diane Ralston Mayer

I was born in Asbury Park NJ in the same hospital that saw the birth of Jack Nicholson. I spent my 1st 25 summers at the beach body surfing and reading literature by folks like Jane Austen. In high school I helped lead a student strike against the poor food options in the school cafeteria. During high school and college, I worked as a long-distance operator for AT&T. Thanks to an alumna sponsor, I was admitted to Smith College, where I majored in Religion and Biblical Studies. Having been a dedicated atheist since 2nd grade, when I got my father to confess that Santa is not real, I was curious about religion. Martin Buber's I and Thou, with its sound moral vision, also influenced my decision.
Upon graduation, I was admitted to Duke divinity school, but felt my atheism was too strong for that to be a good idea. So, I went to work for the NYC social services department, working in Harlem to check on the well-being of those on my caseload. The only requirement to meet in order to be hired was proof of a BA. I next spent 2 years in San Francisco, working as a crew leader for the 1970 census, where I was also assigned to convince reluctant persons, like an ambassador from Turkey or a poor Italian family with no English and only a kerosene lamp for light, to complete the long form. This was a great way to see a great spectrum of folks and areas in SF. During these years, 1966 through 1986 I took several weeklong backpacking trips in Wyoming, mainly in the Wind Rivers. I also played on the Boulder women's softball team sponsored at the time by Tico's Mexican Restaurant.
Despite having no UG Philosophy, I was admitted to the graduate program in Philosophy at CU Boulder. To pay for the program and living expenses, I worked first at the CU switchboard for less than the minimum wage. I saw a student in uniform writing parking tickets and found that she made twice as much per hour, so I applied and was hired. I worked mainly as a dispatcher for the next 10 years, during the time of social unrest, including the Los Seis bombing. I was intent on understanding existentialism and phenomenology but ultimately wound up writing on Kant. After completing and defending my dissertation on his Critique of Pure Reason, I began to work for the Department, as an administrator and an Instructor. Ultimately, I became the Asst Chair for Undergraduate Studies.
As an Instructor, from roughly 1985 until 2011, I mainly taught courses in Applied Normative Philosophy. They included Philosophy and Women. (I was recently stopped on the Bobolink trail by a woman who told me that the course "saved my life, let me find my way out of despair".) When GWB began contemplating invading Afghanistan, I brought back War and Morality, with a focus both on Just War Theory and nonviolence. Students had a lab requirement which consisted of films illustrating various points in both. All Quiet on the Western Front for example. Environment Ethics covered both the moral status of nature and animal rights. The assigned film is a documentary: Earthlings. My other courses included Ethical Theory, Social and Political Philosophy, Intro to Ethics, Major Social Theories, Philosophy and Society. In the latter we read key political theorists (Libertarian, Social Contract, Distributive Justice) and then explored topics such as Education System, the Criminal Justice System and Global Justice (cf World Poverty and Human Rights) The courses were designed to tie abstract ideas to the real world and to help students formulate and justify their moral visions Some final exams consisted of students adopting a view and the forming groups to defend their view against objections made by those defending a different view.
During these years I also volunteered at the Rocky Mountain Peace Center and was part of the planning for the Encirclement of Rocky Flats. I also planned, with others, the Mother's Day Actions at the Nevada Test Site. (A warning at the site read "NO DANGEROUS WEAPONS ALLOWED) I volunteered at the Boulder Safehouse also. And served on the boards of RMPC, the Safehouse, and the local ACLU chapter. In the late 80s, a time of emotional upheaval, I began a Buddhist practice. I completed the 8 week "warrior" training and attended several 'dathuns' (month-long retreats) at the RMDC west of Ft Collins. My library is full of inspiring texts by contemporary Buddhist thinkers.
I also went with Christian Peacemaker Teams to accompany indigenous folks in Chiapas Mexico during the Zapatista uprising. I turned 50 on that trip. I realized that it was silly not to know Spanish, so I made several trips over the years. First to Cuba, which I visited several times, once for a philosophy meeting where I delivered a paper on non-violence. Then to Guatemala, the least expensive place to have one-on-one tutoring in Spanish. I would live with a local family for a month, often in Quetzaltenango, and once joined a project there to work with girls in their schools in the remote mountain villages there.
Upon retiring, I took up the task of relearning the game of bridge, which I had played extensively in high school and college. It took 19 years to feel competent at the game. After attending many tournaments in places like SF and New Orleans, I wound up a "Ruby" Life Master. I also wrote about 500 letters and op eds published in the Camera, using multiple pen names.
Having no longer any contribution to make to the world, and despairing at the horror (imo) of this century with its wars, its destruction of nature, our elimination of many species. and our new (anti) "social media" bringing destruction to human community and well-being, and its recent rise in and acceptance of misogyny, I choose now to shuffle off this mortal coil.