INSIDE OLLI - 
Information about Who is Who and 
What is Going On at Our OLLI Program        
A Gathering of OLLI Students 
                                      Photo by Kathy Bruin                                    

A Memory on
Our OLLI's 20th Anniversary
by  Elsa Fernandez

,
I do remember very clearly. My first class at OLLI was a 6-week Political Science class, taught by David Peritz.
 
I don't remember that particular subject but I recall traipsing into a room that was packed to the rafters with at least 55 men and women—weathered and loud, eager to be back in school and learning again. Or, maybe, to teach the class themselves.
 
A few seats were vacant up front. The class was a raucous group and David Peritz tried his best to gain control of the room. People were talking loudly, over each other and over the teacher.
 
I found a vacant seat at the table in the last row of the classroom
 
A really tall man, imposing to look at and to listen to, sat at the end of the last table, laughed and said to the hideouts like myself . . . “you're going to have to talk very loudly to be heard.” And right on cue, somebody named "Walter" loud and frantic, barked out questions and comments to Prof. Peritz.
 
Some of the old timers in class shouted out "Walter—sit down for goodness sake"—It was the very, very tall man. Yay . . .  someone more imposing than "Walter.”  A woman clapped her hands and said "Thank You, Mike".
 
He grinned and signaled to David Peritz . . . I gave you a break, man . . . now run with it . . . if you don't, Walter will eat you alive!
 
I signed up for more classes with David Peritz through the years and was thrilled that Mike Lambert was there too. The typical OLLI student made me nervous . . .  didn't pay a lot of attention to classroom protocol or niceties. Unless, of course, you sat next to Mike Lambert who had the magic touch and ability to quieten the rowdies with a look and FIVE words:
​           "I'm-ready-how-about-you"
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​​Elsa Fernandez grew up in Asia. She has lived in San Francisco since 1970 and never gets tired of this lovely city. She has travelled the world and still gets excited flying back home and to finally land at SFO. Her family is scattered around the world—India, Australia, Dubai, England, Ireland and Argentina. She is a political junkie and majored in Journalism and Political Science. She loves music and plays the piano quite well (one of her dreams was to own a piano bar in upcountry Maui . . . she would probably call it the Maui Moon!). Writing poetry is an emotional outlet for her.
Other works in this issue:
Poetry:
​Looking through Sunlight
Poliahu's Realm
Inside OLLI:
Book Review: All in Measure - Poetry by Heather Saunders Estes


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We Welcome Comments
Vistas & Byways Review is the semiannual journal of fiction, nonfiction and poetry by members of Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at San Francisco State University​.​
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​Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at San Francisco State University (OLLI at SF State) provides communal and material support to theVistas & Byways  ​volunteer staff.