I am interested in comic books, sitcoms, science fiction and politics. I am Hugh Fox the III. My father is Hugh Fox Jr. the poet.
Introduction
This autobiography is divided into five sections that include this introduction, my family background, bloody fifth and professor days. The approach is basically chronological but I do believe that each stage in my life has had a central theme. The focus of each section will be on what I learned from that particular stage in my life.
Family Background
Both my parents are retired professors. The house was always filled with books and intellectuals. They both had extremely successful careers at Michigan State University. My father is Hugh B. Fox Jr. and had a Ph. D in American Thought and Language. My grandfather was an MD and was Hugh B. Fox senior. I am Hugh B. Fox III. I think from my earliest years it was expected that I would get a doctorate and continue the family tradition. I suppose if I had a son then he would be Hugh B. Fox IV and would also be expected to get a doctorate.
Some of my father’s friends include the famous American beatnik authors Allen Gingsberg, and Charles Bukowski. I talked with Allen Gingsberg and Charles Bukowski and got a lot of interesting ideas about life from them and other similar friends of my fathers. I also met James T. Farrell, Issac Asimov, Ray Bradbury, Diane de Prima, Richard Brautigan and countless other poets and novelists while growing up. I really didn’t appreciate how lucky I was to meet some of the great writers of the US while growing up.
My mother is Lucia Fox Lockert and is from Peru originally but got her Doctorate at Illinois State University and spent the next 30 plus years of her life doing research and teaching in the area of Spanish Literature . The fact that my mother is from Peru means that I basically grew up in a bilingual/bicultural household. I was very aware of both US and Latin American intellectual traditions. My mother had very different friends than my father including Luis Borges .
Hugh Fox III and Luis Borges
Borges viewed the world in a totally different way than someone like Gingsberg or Bukowski and he would often ask very enigmatic questions in the middle of a conversation. Years later I realized how lucky I was to have an opportunity to talk with some of the great thinkers of our generation as a teenager. My mother did make sure that I went to Latin American schools for three years. I did realize at an early age that there was big world past the border of the US. There is more information about my mother at:
http://foxhugh.wordpress.com/about/my-mothers-story/
I was in a Venezuelan school for fourth grade and fifth grade (http://cc.aldeae.net/claret/default.asp). I was in a public school in Argentina for seventh grade. I also visited Bolivia, Peru and Mexico while growing up. I do speak, read and write Spanish fluently thanks to my mother’s efforts. My mother and father were connected to very different intellectual traditions but from both of them I gained an enduring belief and love in the intellectual method for figuring out problems both cosmic and mundane.
Bloody Fifth
I got my bachelor’s and did not go straight on to get a Master and Doctorate and then become a professor as my parents expected. I felt that I needed some life experience above and beyond going to school. With my brand new teaching certificate, a 20-year car and 200 dollars in savings I drove to Texas from Michigan. At the time the Texas economy was booming and teaching jobs abounded. Michigan was the rust belt and teachers were being laid off. I could justify my move on economic grounds but in truth it was time to hit the open highway like so many young Americans before me. I am sure Bukowski would have approved and asked to have a beer in Texas for him. Borges probably would have asked some question like “Are you looking for a job or yourself?”. Both views have their place.
I had asked various Texan friends in Michigan about what school to teach in or not teach in and they all assured me that I wanted to stay far away from the fifth ward in Houston also affectionately known by the locals as “bloody fifth”.
The Blues singer Weldon “Juke Boy” Bonner used to sing about the spot. The area is also sometimes refered to as Little Pearl Harbor, a reference to December 7, 1941.
I was told that gunfights and knife fights were commonplace and that a student would probably kill me within a month. This sounded like the wild, wild, west that a young man needs to experience in order to understand life more deeply. I of course made sure to get a teaching job in the fifth ward. My friends had exaggerated. Actual killings of teachers were not commonplace. Rather the students assaulted each other which in turn caused many teachers to become nervous, who knows why, and in turn quit. I taught in Fleming Middle School for five years. The room next to mine saw fifteen teachers come and go in that period. I learned that courage and calm can get your through just about any experience. I also learned that sometimes you are most needed where you are least expected. Any good karma I have garnered in this lifetime was during those five years teaching at Fleming.
Professor Days
Even the panorama of the struggle between life and death can become commonplace with time. I had done my five years at Fleming and realized it was time to follow the family tradition and become a professor. I went to Texas A&M University for five years and got my Masters and Doctorate. My area of specialization is computer assisted language learning (CALL). I taught at Texas A&M University in Lubbock Texas for a year but the desert terrain soon got on my nerves. They have no sewers in Lubbock because it never rains, literally. One of my favorite cities in the world in San Antonio when I saw a job opening in that city I jumped at it.
I worked at Our Lady of the Lake University (OLLU) in San Antonio in the teacher education program for six years. I taught ESL methodology and language acquisition theory for the last six years. I created and administered a M.Ed. in educational technology at OLLU. I was on the committee which set up a computer based language lab at OLLU. While I was in San Antonio I also married to a stunning beauty of the type that San Antonio is famous for. I had told her that I had a dream since childhood to see the world. One of the reasons I picked ESL as a research area is because ESL teachers could easily see the world. Somehow I never got around to fulfilling this dream.
I got a job at Suzhou Railway Teacher College in Suzhou, China. I spent one incredible year there. China was great and I would still be there except for the small problem. At the time, a well-paid professor in China made three thousand dollars a year! China is cheap but not that cheap. I liked the Chinese adventure but I also liked money. Also you need more than three hundred a month to have adventures in other Asian countries. I applied for a university job in Taiwan.
I was a professor in Taiwan for seven years (2000-2007). Taiwan offered ok pay and a perfect base from which to explore Asia due to its central location. During my years in Taiwan, I visited Australia, Brunei, Guam, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Hong Kong, Macao, Thailand, India, the Philippines and Vietnam. I opted for more money and more adventure in Dajeon, SouthKorea for a year. I then taught in Nagoya, Japan for six months. I decided to try to teach at the university level in my favorite Asian country in 2009. I am currently living and working in Thailand. I would say that there are many ways to live life and one should be totally open to new experiences.
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19 RESPONSES TO “AUTOBIOGRAPHY”
philkant | May 23, 2008 at 10:26 am | Reply
Hello Hugh,
it’ my great honor to be able to make the first comment on this blog!
I think, I’ve found some stuff really interesting, enjoyed much.
A question: don’t you think that the present best friend of U.S.A should try to upgrade his intellectual capacity, especially in dealing with the beef troubles? 2(Lee) MB … not enough!
have a nice weekend! ^^
Scott Sommers | May 26, 2008 at 4:20 am | Reply
This picture looks nothing like you. The person in this picture is Asian. Why would you post someone else’s picture on your blog?
foxhugh | May 26, 2008 at 4:42 am | Reply
Hey its me! Asian? I would say young not Asian. The picture was taken at an earlier date in my life but I am not saying how early. This is my blog not a dating site and I allowed some lee way in this area.
renaz98 | May 29, 2008 at 8:41 am | Reply
Hi, Hugh,
I never knew that your mother put you in Latin American schools for three years until I read this biography. I was actually wonder why your Spanish is so good. Now I know the reason. I am going to put my five year old son in China to study for 5 months. I guess I am doing the right thing. What a comfort after I read your biograph! Thanks!
Bomi | June 12, 2008 at 1:46 pm | Reply
Hello, Hugh
I am the student who is listening to your English Conversation class.
Finally I enter your blog. I am studying the test of your class when I remember your blog.
Your blog is very interesting so I will read all of the contens.
The last day of your class is tomorrow. I will miss you ,your fun jokes and class. I hope that you always enjoys your life.
Thanks!!!
foxhugh | June 12, 2008 at 11:49 pm | Reply
Thanks for the kind wishes! I have really enjoyed my Korean students.
Smile | June 27, 2008 at 5:36 pm | Reply
Hi, Hugh !
I am the student in your english class.
That’s so amazing about your father.
hoho….
I’m litte at english….
so…. goodbye
Smile | June 27, 2008 at 5:38 pm | Reply
….I don’t know, where is Hellowkitty VS Snoopy…….
Dave Frear | July 12, 2008 at 9:05 am | Reply
It has bee
I am interested in comic books, sitcoms, science fiction and politics. I am Hugh Fox the III. My father is Hugh Fox Jr. the poet.
Introduction
This autobiography is divided into five sections that include this introduction, my family background, bloody fifth and professor days. The approach is basically chronological but I do believe that each stage in my life has had a central theme. The focus of each section will be on what I learned from that particular stage in my life.
Family Background
Both my parents are retired professors. The house was always filled with books and intellectuals. They both had extremely successful careers at Michigan State University. My father is Hugh B. Fox Jr. and had a Ph. D in American Thought and Language. My grandfather was an MD and was Hugh B. Fox senior. I am Hugh B. Fox III. I think from my earliest years it was expected that I would get a doctorate and continue the family tradition. I suppose if I had a son then he would be Hugh B. Fox IV and would also be expected to get a doctorate.
Some of my father’s friends include the famous American beatnik authors Allen Gingsberg, and Charles Bukowski. I talked with Allen Gingsberg and Charles Bukowski and got a lot of interesting ideas about life from them and other similar friends of my fathers. I also met James T. Farrell, Issac Asimov, Ray Bradbury, Diane de Prima, Richard Brautigan and countless other poets and novelists while growing up. I really didn’t appreciate how lucky I was to meet some of the great writers of the US while growing up.
My mother is Lucia Fox Lockert and is from Peru originally but got her Doctorate at Illinois State University and spent the next 30 plus years of her life doing research and teaching in the area of Spanish Literature . The fact that my mother is from Peru means that I basically grew up in a bilingual/bicultural household. I was very aware of both US and Latin American intellectual traditions. My mother had very different friends than my father including Luis Borges .
Hugh Fox III and Luis Borges
Borges viewed the world in a totally different way than someone like Gingsberg or Bukowski and he would often ask very enigmatic questions in the middle of a conversation. Years later I realized how lucky I was to have an opportunity to talk with some of the great thinkers of our generation as a teenager. My mother did make sure that I went to Latin American schools for three years. I did realize at an early age that there was big world past the border of the US. There is more information about my mother at:
http://foxhugh.wordpress.com/about/my-mothers-story/
I was in a Venezuelan school for fourth grade and fifth grade (http://cc.aldeae.net/claret/default.asp). I was in a public school in Argentina for seventh grade. I also visited Bolivia, Peru and Mexico while growing up. I do speak, read and write Spanish fluently thanks to my mother’s efforts. My mother and father were connected to very different intellectual traditions but from both of them I gained an enduring belief and love in the intellectual method for figuring out problems both cosmic and mundane.
Bloody Fifth
I got my bachelor’s and did not go straight on to get a Master and Doctorate and then become a professor as my parents expected. I felt that I needed some life experience above and beyond going to school. With my brand new teaching certificate, a 20-year car and 200 dollars in savings I drove to Texas from Michigan. At the time the Texas economy was booming and teaching jobs abounded. Michigan was the rust belt and teachers were being laid off. I could justify my move on economic grounds but in truth it was time to hit the open highway like so many young Americans before me. I am sure Bukowski would have approved and asked to have a beer in Texas for him. Borges probably would have asked some question like “Are you looking for a job or yourself?”. Both views have their place.
I had asked various Texan friends in Michigan about what school to teach in or not teach in and they all assured me that I wanted to stay far away from the fifth ward in Houston also affectionately known by the locals as “bloody fifth”.
The Blues singer Weldon “Juke Boy” Bonner used to sing about the spot. The area is also sometimes refered to as Little Pearl Harbor, a reference to December 7, 1941.
I was told that gunfights and knife fights were commonplace and that a student would probably kill me within a month. This sounded like the wild, wild, west that a young man needs to experience in order to understand life more deeply. I of course made sure to get a teaching job in the fifth ward. My friends had exaggerated. Actual killings of teachers were not commonplace. Rather the students assaulted each other which in turn caused many teachers to become nervous, who knows why, and in turn quit. I taught in Fleming Middle School for five years. The room next to mine saw fifteen teachers come and go in that period. I learned that courage and calm can get your through just about any experience. I also learned that sometimes you are most needed where you are least expected. Any good karma I have garnered in this lifetime was during those five years teaching at Fleming.
Professor Days
Even the panorama of the struggle between life and death can become commonplace with time. I had done my five years at Fleming and realized it was time to follow the family tradition and become a professor. I went to Texas A&M University for five years and got my Masters and Doctorate. My area of specialization is computer assisted language learning (CALL). I taught at Texas A&M University in Lubbock Texas for a year but the desert terrain soon got on my nerves. They have no sewers in Lubbock because it never rains, literally. One of my favorite cities in the world in San Antonio when I saw a job opening in that city I jumped at it.
I worked at Our Lady of the Lake University (OLLU) in San Antonio in the teacher education program for six years. I taught ESL methodology and language acquisition theory for the last six years. I created and administered a M.Ed. in educational technology at OLLU. I was on the committee which set up a computer based language lab at OLLU. While I was in San Antonio I also married to a stunning beauty of the type that San Antonio is famous for. I had told her that I had a dream since childhood to see the world. One of the reasons I picked ESL as a research area is because ESL teachers could easily see the world. Somehow I never got around to fulfilling this dream.
I got a job at Suzhou Railway Teacher College in Suzhou, China. I spent one incredible year there. China was great and I would still be there except for the small problem. At the time, a well-paid professor in China made three thousand dollars a year! China is cheap but not that cheap. I liked the Chinese adventure but I also liked money. Also you need more than three hundred a month to have adventures in other Asian countries. I applied for a university job in Taiwan.
I was a professor in Taiwan for seven years (2000-2007). Taiwan offered ok pay and a perfect base from which to explore Asia due to its central location. During my years in Taiwan, I visited Australia, Brunei, Guam, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Hong Kong, Macao, Thailand, India, the Philippines and Vietnam. I opted for more money and more adventure in Dajeon, SouthKorea for a year. I then taught in Nagoya, Japan for six months. I decided to try to teach at the university level in my favorite Asian country in 2009. I am currently living and working in Thailand. I would say that there are many ways to live life and one should be totally open to new experiences.
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SHARE THIS:
StumbleUponRedditFacebook1PrintEmailTwitter
19 RESPONSES TO “AUTOBIOGRAPHY”
philkant | May 23, 2008 at 10:26 am | Reply
Hello Hugh,
it’ my great honor to be able to make the first comment on this blog!
I think, I’ve found some stuff really interesting, enjoyed much.
A question: don’t you think that the present best friend of U.S.A should try to upgrade his intellectual capacity, especially in dealing with the beef troubles? 2(Lee) MB … not enough!
have a nice weekend! ^^
Scott Sommers | May 26, 2008 at 4:20 am | Reply
This picture looks nothing like you. The person in this picture is Asian. Why would you post someone else’s picture on your blog?
foxhugh | May 26, 2008 at 4:42 am | Reply
Hey its me! Asian? I would say young not Asian. The picture was taken at an earlier date in my life but I am not saying how early. This is my blog not a dating site and I allowed some lee way in this area.
renaz98 | May 29, 2008 at 8:41 am | Reply
Hi, Hugh,
I never knew that your mother put you in Latin American schools for three years until I read this biography. I was actually wonder why your Spanish is so good. Now I know the reason. I am going to put my five year old son in China to study for 5 months. I guess I am doing the right thing. What a comfort after I read your biograph! Thanks!
Bomi | June 12, 2008 at 1:46 pm | Reply
Hello, Hugh
I am the student who is listening to your English Conversation class.
Finally I enter your blog. I am studying the test of your class when I remember your blog.
Your blog is very interesting so I will read all of the contens.
The last day of your class is tomorrow. I will miss you ,your fun jokes and class. I hope that you always enjoys your life.
Thanks!!!
foxhugh | June 12, 2008 at 11:49 pm | Reply
Thanks for the kind wishes! I have really enjoyed my Korean students.
Smile | June 27, 2008 at 5:36 pm | Reply
Hi, Hugh !
I am the student in your english class.
That’s so amazing about your father.
hoho….
I’m litte at english….
so…. goodbye
Smile | June 27, 2008 at 5:38 pm | Reply
….I don’t know, where is Hellowkitty VS Snoopy…….
Dave Frear | July 12, 2008 at 9:05 am | Reply
It has bee
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