From Korea to the World published by amazon.com

Preface

 

I was born in a rural town, Umsong South Korea in 1937, was educated and had a successful career as a distinguished professor of journalism in the University of Missouri USA. Throughout and especially in these years of retirement, I have traveled all over the world.

I was heavily motivated to be a scholar at a very young age by my grandfather who had vision based in the Confucian values and philosophy, which emphasized personal and governmental morality, correctness of social relationships, justice and sincerity.

I was told by my grandfather that my life's destiny came under the sign of the "running horse," which would carry me around the world.  The source of this Confucian prophecy, The Book of Changes, considers the cycle of one life span to be 60 years.  I have now surpassed that cycle by over a decade, but my destiny continues to keep me running.  This book is an examination of that destiny and looks back at what I have done to accomplish my goals along the way.

My first goal was to achieve the highest level of education.  I began that journey in provincial high school in Chongju Korea, eventually making my way to Seoul Korea for college. After four years of preparation after graduating from Korea University, I made my way to Eugene, Oregon to take another bachelor's degree in journalism. Then I moved down to Los Angeles for my master's and finally to Iowa City for my ultimate goal, a doctoral degree.  It took me 35 years of hard work to achieve that goal.

My second goal was to be successful in my career.  My career was centered on the teaching of journalism at the University of Missouri. I was honored to be awarded the O.O McIntire Distinguished Chair Professorship and worked as a department chair, director of the Stephenson Research Center and associate dean for graduate studies and research. I supervised 33 doctoral dissertations, wrote 16 books, spearheaded the use of word processing in printing newspapers, helped to establish and modernize newspapers in Asia and mentored motivating young journalists all over the world.

My third goal was to have a successful family life. My wife Young and I have been happily married for 54 years. We have been blessed to have three children who are well educated, happily married and successful in their careers: Susan works as a City Planner, and her husband, David, has an architectural firm. They live with their sons Ben and Eric in British Columbia, Canada; Anthony, a senior international attorney for a law firm, he lives with his wife, Damee, in Seoul, Korea with their children, Alex and Chloe; and Eugene is a professor of Emerson College in Boston, and his wife, Tessa also is a professor and department chair of Wheaton College in Norton Massachusetts. They live in the Boston area with their son, Tobin.

Now, as a retiree, I have settled in a retirement community, Laguna Woods Village in California.  My destiny, however is keeping me running. I work as a leader of a traveling group of retirees and am traveling around the world for searching for renewed meaning to my life in retirement.  I also have been reading many books, both fiction and non-fiction, which I could not do when I was immersed in my academic research and teaching.  I am also enjoying the natural wonders of the surrounding mountains and beaches and practicing my favorite sports, golf and fishing.  What meaning does my life hold for me now?  I am running to explore this question in the pages that follow.

   

     Laguna Woods Village,

     December 2016 

 

 

After 80 years

After 80 years, I’ve realized the simple truth that my family and friends are an integral part of my happiness.  I regret that I had to pursue fame and glory at the expense of my genuine happiness with my family. I still wonder how I had decided to go abroad to study more when I had to leave my wife and two children in Korea. I am still grateful for Young, my wife, who supported my decision. But my two older children, Susan and Anthony, at their young ages, did not know about my adventure. I had worked hard for all of my family, but I had not played with Susan and Anthony when they needed to have their father around.

I also discovered my joy in life when working hard to overcome challenges and adversity caused by unforeseen events, destiny, or divine providence. I had worked hard to overcome the difficulties of being a poor international student. I had achieved my goal of receiving three degrees: BA, MA and Ph.D. in six years in the United States. After receiving three degrees, I had worked hard to support the education of my three children, while I had been devoted to help hundreds of students in their journalism careers.

After my retirement, I have been working full time traveling, reading, writing and publishing books. I wrote a book in Korean in 2007 called “Retirement without Retiring,” which explains the components and ideal types of retirement. The book also concludes that retirement can require more than a full time job. I am busier now than before the retirement. When I have a spare time, I travel around the world with a particular fondness for the beautiful mountains and Buddhist temples in my beloved country, Korea.

 

I worked hard to establish a system to publish books through  amazon.com, which is selling my eight books and two other books, authored by others. In 2014 I also created the Korean Book Club (KBC) in the Laguna Woods Village to help members publish their autobiographies.

I even enjoy working on projects like home improvement, house cleaning, car washing and exotic cooking. As a part of my retirement, I enjoy tending a garden that is thriving with vegetables and citrus fruits.  I enjoy working.

I believe the remainder of my life should be devoted to the happiness of others instead of my own. I am devoting my work to my wife of 55 years, my three children, their spouses, and five grandchildren.

I believe my physical fitness needs to be a vital part of my retirement agenda. Playing golf had been my major exercise before reaching my age of 80 years. Golfing takes too many hours of my valuable time, and I hate to make so many mistakes hitting the golf ball. I found other types of exercise fit my needs.

Walking is at the top of my list. I walk around my neighborhood as much as I have opportunities. Walking helps me move my body while I enjoy meditating, watching flowers, trees and blue sky, and singing my old nostalgic songs. I also renew my old exercises of swimming and weight lifting.

I used to enjoy watching sports, like football, baseball, basketball and golf. I rarely watch television these days. The thrilling excitement and suspension of the games, news and entertainments disturb my peace of mind. I'd rather read books of philosophers like Goethe, Pascal and Schopenhauer.

My retirement life now consists of love, works, exercise, travel and meditation.