"An old diver"

John began diving at about 7 years old in Arlington, VA, and continued through his first year of college. He went on to do acrobatic diving shows at water parks and theme parks.

John has been the diving coach at American University in Washington, DC for the last 11 seasons, and runs a club diving program for several years, coached middle and high school teams, and for 20 years has coached at a pool in his hometown of Arlington, VA, where he learned to swim and dive as a child.

The Stardust connection

John has a personal connection to Stardust through Angus, and a shared love of nature and the outdoors that naturally resonates with Stardust’s missions of sustainability, learning, and health.

"I met Angus as both a friend of my son's, and as a diver at Dominion Dive Club, where I coached several years ago. Aside from coaching him, I spent many a night with Angus... talking about everything from Philosophy to Science to The Universe...

He was quite engaging, and I learned many things from our many chats... I always enjoyed Angus's company, his intellect, and his openness with ideas.

Angus spent quite a few nights on the couch in our basement, and had stints of staying with us during his bouncing back and forth between Canada and here. He was living here just before his final trip out to Colorado. I considered him one of my kids in a lot of ways, and we still have moments of deep sadness about losing him. We absolutely love Jean and Jim, and Camille."

Teaching and making your own path

For many years, John worked as a busy and successful technician. But he needed more time to take care of his children and quit his job. His daughter's school in Arlington needed a new diving coach and after volunteering to take over, he found himself with the job.

Although his transition was happenstance, John is passionate about coaching his students. “I feel lucky to work with some very intelligent young people... I see some pretty driven, organized, and mostly happy student athletes.  Do they make mistakes? Do they have "problems"? Of course they do... as we all do.”

His students give him a sense of hope in an increasingly distressing political and environmental climate. “For every bad story on the news, I have a good one about one of our divers doing something fantastic, overcoming some adversity, or showing some selflessness in helping out a fellow student.” 

Seeing female athletes succeed

John was inspired to see increasing equality of opportunity in education, citing his student Fiona as an example of a female athlete achieving great things. "[Besides] her awesome academic performance, she was also probably the most incredible athlete and person I've ever worked with... and I've worked with a lot of really outstanding young people over the years.”

“Fiona, who graduated last Spring, was recently given the NCAA Sportsmanship Award, which is given to ONE WOMAN in all Division 1 athletic programs. That means that she was selected over all other female athletes in D-1!... about 200,000 of them! She also garnered the Top Academic Athlete at American University, with a near perfect 3.98 at graduation.

"Nothing has ever been more important": Spending time outside in the modern age

In a world that asks us to constantly be plugged in, we desperately need the balance of our natural environment. John grew up spending as much time outdoors as possible, and seeing kids absorbed in electronic devices indicates to him a disturbing divergence from the benefits of exploring outside.

“In this age where everyone, especially young people, seem so infatuated and connected to their devices, outdoor activities (that require no electronics) seem so much more important now. I am quite the fisherman myself, and though I need to use computers and my phone plenty, I find it refreshing to just get down to the river, [and] forget all of the emails and the news... Getting outside releases endorphins. It opens our view. It widens our perspectives."

"Ah, but I was infused and it always showed": Taking time outdoors for your mental health

Most jobs require screen-time and being on call, but there are ways to unplug occasionally, or to take time for yourself even in a demanding job. As a technician, John worked at the Pentagon and other demanding, high security places, but still took time to go fishing at lunch.

His happy, easy-going attitude stood out among colleagues who napped in their cars during breaks. “They still looked tired!.. I'd like to think that my disposition is a big part of my successes, and think my ability to recharge outdoors, even if it's just for an hour, is a big part of that."

Even if you live in a city, it’s very possible to to be close to nature. "There are places just three or four miles from the heart of DC where you can be completely alone, and not see another person." At the same time, proximity to the city makes it impossible to ignore the devastating effects of industrial pollution. John sees completely unnecessary pollution like bottles in the Potomac river where he fishes.

He also describes poignantly the outrage of the government's treatment of climate change. It's infuriating, "when you hear people in "leadership positions"questioning if [climate change] exists, or how/why it exists. It doesn't make any sense that we seem to be reducing the money spent to help our planet heal, and the regulations being cut are giving a green light to corporations to go back to the days of toxic dumping and increased carbon output, all for "better business".

Further, the current US administration is not doing enough to protect public lands, and in fact seems to be hastening their decline. “Obama set aside lots of land during his time in office, specifically to keep those lands away from business, and to preserve Open Spaces for people to enjoy.  Current "leadership" has seen fit to try to undo literally all of the strides made, including attempts at halting MPG standards for cars and trucks."