Northwood University - Northwood Yearbook (Midland, MI)

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ginning”, he recalls, “with two buildings: The Smith Building and the home of Ammi W. Wright, a wealthy man in early Alma.” Together with his statements of Arthur E. Turner and R. Gary Stauf- fer laying tile floors in these old buildings, he remembers them work- ing late at night the day before the first registration to finish a small snack bar in the Wright Building, which he said that Mr. Turner felt was a necessity for any college. Early Northwood had such extracurricular activities as a basketball team (coached by Gary Stauffer), a singing ensemble (directed by Dean Stauffer,) fraternities, sororities, a ski club, and “big parties with live bands and elaborate decorations.” “What do | like about Northwood? | like the small size, the small classes, the close relationship between instructor and student. | like the dynamic and progressive leadership of President Turner and Vice- President Stauffer, the confidence the provosts have had in me, the feeling that | am helping someone recover and or uncover their po- tential.” He feels that perhaps the best ten years of his life have been spent at Northwood. Despite age differences, he feels a good rapport with his students and gets to know them quite well through the themes they write. “| get to see inside them,” he adds. “I consider them all to be more good than bad, and more honest than adults when it comes to admitting faults and weaknesses”. He adds, “Young people see the ills and hypocrisies of present day society and seriously want to do something about it.” Parm Mayer gives the following words to young writers: “Have rhi- noceros hide instead of skin. Rejection slips hurt! Acceptance in any field is difficult, he claims, but acceptance is very satisfying. Revise, revise, revise .. . the secret of writing is rewriting.” “Never give up,” Mayer concludes. “| have had poems and stories accepted after 30 and 40 submissions.” “Poems grow from seeds,” claims this most famous author and writer, “seeds which are imbedded deep inside you. But not until you've worked the ground over and over again.” Upon leaving his small office on the second floor of Alma’s Northwood building, we asked Northwood'’s distinguished man of many words his opinion of the greatest word in the English language: “The word is love. As poet W. H. Auden said, ‘Unless we love one another, we die.” 91

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90 Ten Years at Northwood By Bob France “| had my appendix taken out in the Dr. Dubois Room and recuperated in what is now the provost’s office,” recalls Parm Mayer. “| recall going to apply for the job of English instructor at Northwood and finding Mr. Turner and Mr. Stauffer, along with Mr. Turner’s fa- ther-in-law, in the basement of the Smith Building laying asphalt tile on the floor.” Having known Northwood Institute longer than any instructor still teaching, Parm Mayer is resident writer and associate professor at Northwood’s Alma campus, where he currently teaches composition. He has written more than 160 poems which now appear in more than 60 literary magazines, mostly college and university quarterlies, with two books ready for publication. He has poems in four anthologies which he was invited to compose, one bilingual, published in Buenos Aires, Argentina. For the last five years he has tried his hand at adult fiction, and retains editorial contact at most major magazines. His recent successes came after a “cooling off” period, which found him writing seventy juvenile stories for all age levels, which were all published. “ve wanted to write since my early high school days. When my sons were small | used to tell them stories | had made up.” Today, his two sons hold M.D.’s and Ph.D.’s in chemistry and have made their father “very proud of them”. He is married to a former small- town school teacher, Lillian. Parm Mayer was born in Merrill, Michigan, a small town in Saginaw County and attended Merrill High School from which he was gradu- ated at the age of 16. He worked during the summers at his father’s plant nursery, 10 hours a day, 6 days a week. He valued his working, and feels that it conditioned him for life to accept work as both neces- Sary and good. “l especially liked to plow because | admired the strength and willingness of the horses; | liked to see the fresh, good earth turned over by the plow share. | am small town minded and earth rooted, and feel flavored with the country air.” He graduated from Olivet College (A.B.) and the University of Michi- gan (M.A.). He did graduate study at the University of Michigan and Bowling Green State University of Ohio. Having taught much of his life on the secondary level in Alma, he has been with Northwood since 1959. “Northwood had a very humble be-

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