Callings: The Purpose and Passion of Work

John Heyn speaks with his uncle, Herman Heyn, who works as a “street-corner astronomer” (11). Herman’s narrative shifts back in time to his childhood. He wanted to be a scientist but had learning disabilities that hindered his education. In the eighth grade, his science teacher inspired him to go look for the Big Dipper in the night sky, and from then on, astronomy became his passion. At age 15, he convinced his father to buy him a telescope.

He received a degree in elementary education but did not teach. Instead, he went through a series of odd jobs. Then, in 1987, he took his telescope out to a street corner and invited passersby to look at the stars with him in exchange for tips.

He takes pride in the fact that some people have taken up astronomy as a hobby because of him. Herman explains that “the best part of [his] life is being out there with a telescope, and then it’s downhill from there” (14).

John Maycumber speaks with his girlfriend Barbara Abelhauser, who works as a bridgetender. Barbara spent 14 years working in a miserable office job as a state employee. One day, she decided life was too short to be miserable and looked for a job tending to bridges. She now works in a small building where she watches over a drawbridge, operates the bridge’s movement to let boats pass, and monitors safety concerns from people driving or walking across the bridge.

Barbara calls the bridge a “place of community” (18), where she sees people walking their dogs, going on dates, and staging proposals, as well as fishermen taking their boats out every morning. She enjoys watching the nature around her such as alligators and birds. Though there are stressful moments, she calls the job “Zen.” She concludes, “Most people don’t stop to smell the roses, but I get to smell the roses eight hours a day. It’s amazing” (21).

Sharon Long speaks with her colleague, Steve Sutter, about her career as a forensic artist. After years in various working-class jobs while raising two daughters, Sharon enrolled in college at age 40. She took anthropology courses while completing an art degree in sculpture. Her anthropology advisor invited her to try a facial reconstruction sculpture of a skull. This became her career moving forward.

Sharon describes the long process of doing a facial reconstruction. She considers the work meditative and creative. She often finds herself studying the faces of random people she meets to better understand facial structures. The work is often emotionally difficult, as she has done forensic work for murder and torture victims. However, she feels proud that she has helped to tell stories about the skulls she has worked with.

Leon Kogut speaks with his son, NBA referee Marat Kogut. Kogut traces his career back to childhood. He played basketball until an injury benched him at age 15, and he refereed instead. He realized this was what he wanted to do with his life because he “wanted to be right in the middle of the action—and when you’re a referee, you’re the one controlling the game” (27).

He passed the referee license test at 16 and refereed for schools and recreation centers. When Marat succeeded in becoming an NBA referee, his entire family attended his first game in the tri-state area. Leon is a barber, and most of his customers attended the game as well. They joke that Marat had more fans in the stands than the players did. Leon says that he watches every game that his son referees on TV, no matter how late it might be, because he is so proud. He sees Marat’s success as a dream come true.

Alton Yates talks with his daughter, Toni Yates, about his work as an aeromedical field tester. Alton was the second of seven children raised by a single father. As soon as he finished school, he knew he needed to help his family financially and joined the US Air Force.

He was assigned to the Aeromedical Field Laboratory in New Mexico during a 1950s program to test the effects of high-G forces on the human body. This was a precursor to NASA testing for astronaut conditions. Alton became a “human guinea pig” and was placed in high-speed rocket sleds to test the effects of abrupt deceleration on the human body (33). He was also tested in the huge centrifuges that were eventually used in astronaut training. He stayed in the Air Force until his father became terminally ill.

Alton is glad that he was able to make his father proud of him before he died. He also takes pride in his work with the air force, knowing it was an integral part of putting men in space. He says, “[E]very time there is a liftoff I think a little piece of me lifts off with each one of those missions” (35).

Carl McNair remembers his brother, astronaut Ronald McNair, with his friend Vernon Skipper. Ronald McNair died during the NASA Challenger space shuttle explosion on January 28, 1986.

Carl starts the story in Ronald’s childhood. Ronald walked into a public library to check out books despite being a Black child in segregated South Carolina. Ronald’s mother convinced the librarian to let him check out the books. Ronald’s life was characterized by both a drive to learn and racial barriers that he broke through. He went on to earn a doctorate in physics before joining NASA.

Carl reflects on the impact of the TV show Star Trek, which showcased a multiracial cast working together in space. Ronald viewed that not as science fiction but as a genuine possibility for the future. He adds that for a “country boy from segregated, small-town South Carolina” (39), few could have dreamed that Ronald would be an astronaut. In the end, he was able to fly on his own “Starship Enterprise” (39).

Storm Reyes talks to her son, Jeremy Hagquist, about her work as a library assistant. She speaks of her childhood working in migrant farmworkers’ fields and being raised by abusive parents. One day, when she was 12 years old, a bookmobile came to the fields. At first, she was scared to enter because she believed books were not meant for people like her. However, the librarian coaxed her in and explained that she could borrow as many books as she wanted.

This experience taught her that there was a world outside the migrant camps and gave her the hope and courage to leave. She soon left the migrant camps to attend vocational school and earned a stenographer’s degree. She then found work at a local library, where she spent 32 years “helping other people make a connection with the library” (42). She says that libraries save lives.

Bob Warburton speaks with his mother, Dr. Dorothy Warburton, a scientist. Dorothy explains that her father was a chemical engineer who wanted a son but never had one. Instead, he taught her about science, though he never believed she would have a future in science. In school, she thought she could be a scientist’s secretary and snuck into the lab in the evenings to do her own work.

However, a professor convinced her that she should earn a doctorate in human genetics, which she did. She became a research associate in the ob-gyn department at Columbia University while fighting against sexism.

She started the Genetic Diagnostic Laboratory at Columbia in 1969, one of the first in the country. The work can be stressful, but she has helped many people give birth safely. Though her life is different from what she had imagined, she is “pleased with the way things turned out” and plans to continue her work for as long as she can (47).

Thomas McGarvey speaks about his career as a dentist with his friend and patient, Anne Brande. Thomas needed to work to support his family when his father died. To do so, he joined the Navy and trained as a dental technician. He excelled at the work and was “enthralled with mechanical dentistry” (49). Eventually, he left the Navy and got accepted to dental school, which he says was the happiest moment of his life (even over the birth of his children).

He loves the challenges of dentistry and the moments when he needs to find creative solutions. He also loves all the interesting people he gets to meet. He has as much passion for the work at age 71 as he did at 25. He concludes, “You know, life lessons are our attitudes. So get whatever it is you want in your heart, and in your gut. And once you’ve got it, don’t ever let go” (51).