50 years: Linda Ferguson Rosevear Greenberg
After graduating from Syracuse University with a degree in International Relations I worked at Fairchild Publications as an Administrative Assistant and Assistant Editor, then traveled for several months in Europe and north Africa (with two friends, one of whom is classmate Merike Komendant Phillips), after which I worked at various jobs in NYC before deciding to go to graduate school. In NYC I delighted in having an apartment in the East Village.
 |
 |
| |
At the Louvre, Paris,
October 2005
Click on Photo to Enlarge |
Graduate school was the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, where I earned a M.A. in American Studies. Ann Arbor at that time was home to all kinds of radical movements. I was fascinated by these political ideologies and by Ann Arbor. Then, because of a strong interest in art history, I decided to get a degree in Museum Practice because I could study architecture and art. I also met Bruce Greenberg, a Political Science Ph.D. candidate in Political Science, and we married in May 1968. I did not complete my second masters because it required a residency in Toledo, OH, and we had just married. I returned to American Studies, this time as a Ph.D. candidate. I also began jogging, which I still do every day and became interested in healthy foods.
Bruce and I had two children; Paul was born in Ann Arbor and Leslie in Galesburg, IL, where Bruce taught at Knox College. I taught History at Carl Sandburg College and worked as a researcher on an annexation study for the town of Galesburg. Having never lived in a small town or in the Midwest I enjoyed the experience, the vastness of the panoramas, plus being part of an academic community.
Bruce, however, was dissatisfied with teaching and began looking for a new job. He found a position at Antioch College whose administrative office at that time was in Columbia, MD. In Columbia, a planned community, I worked on several interesting projects with Westinghouse Health Systems. One was on work incentives to reduce family size overseas and the other was as Coordinator for the Handicapped Program Medical component of Head Start.
In 1976 I left Westinghouse and joined Bruce – who had left academia and working for others to establish his own publishing business -- in developing our fledgling company dedicated to books on toy trains. As an aside, my Christmas tree in Roslyn never had trains encircling, but Bruce was a toy train enthusiast and became known as “Mr. Trains.” At the same time Bruce created Greenberg’s GreatToy Train, Dollhouse & Toy Shows in the Middle Atlantic States to support the book publishing business. The shows became very successful (still exist today) and eventually the publishing business did too. In 1991, with 40+ employees, we sold both companies to a larger book publisher. By that time I was president of Greenberg Shows and Bruce was president of Greenberg Publishing. Some of our early and very successful shows on Long Island were in Colonie Hill, Hauppauge, and we also used the Gym at Hofstra University. I continued with Kalmbach Publishing as president of Greenberg Shows until 1999 when I retired to work on special projects. One was writing a history and walking tour of our town, Sykesville, MD, and the other was compiling a genealogy of my family. We published Sykesville: Past & Present in 2001 and The Rosevear Family History: 1440 – 2005 in 2005. The History is 541 pages! In 2005 we also returned to Cornwall to sponsor a mini family reunion. (We had attended two previous reunions, the first with the entire family in 1985.)
In Sykesville I was a Vestry member and Treasurer of St. Barnabas, active in civic and historic associations, and devoted to gardening. Here in Alexandria I am Secretary of the Alexandria Historical Society as well as editor of their monograph The Alexandria Chronicle, a docent at the Carlyle House, Membership Chair for the Commonwealth Republican Women’s Club and active in the local DAR chapter. I attend AEI Bradley Series lectures on the benefits of capitalism and support several libertarian organizations, i.e., CATO.
Our daughter Leslie married U S Navy Captain Chris Nichols and they have three children and live in Annapolis. Paul married Yan Cui, a Chinese American, in early August 2006 and expect their first child in June. They live four blocks from us. We live in Alexandria in a lovely community with amenities in walking distance, to the west of Old Town. I still love to walk. Life is good and blessings abound.
I look forward to our reunion.
Linda
October, 30 2006.
|
