"Every class I have taken at OLLI has given me great pleasure and growth," says Roger Blundell, retired computer systems engineer and OLLI volunteer. "I make sure I take one course a session that I know nothing about. One class did take me out of my comfort zone, but that's not a bad thing." Certain instructors and courses have had particularly appeal: Roger has taken Bethany Cobb's three courses on astronomy, John Prescott's two music courses, and David Casuto's classes on digital photography and graphic design. And then there's Linda Rugg. "I take all her courses," he tells us, "from the three "Murder on Ice" classes featuring Scandinavian detective fiction to the one on Norse mythology."

Roger was born in England and came over to America as a child on a tramp steamer with his mother and sister. "There were very few passengers," he recalls, "and we kids had the run of the ship." Much later, after schooling and discharge from the army, Roger joined United Airlines, where he enjoyed a forty-three year career working in airport operations and inflight and information technology systems engineering. Roger and his future wife, Ann, each working for United at widely separated airports, became interested in each other as they conducted airline business by phone. Eventually they met in person, and after surviving a long-distance relationship, decided to get married. They now live in Walnut Creek.