SADASAE  

The personal website of John Bruce Cantrell

 

 

 

To find out about …

  1. English as a Second Language (ESL), or
  2. Fly-fishing in south-west Virginia, or
  3. Temple-Style Tai Chi,

to go directly
to the site,
click on
one of the links
below:

17 Gough Square
or

Blacksburg
Fly Fishing
or

Temple Style
Tai Chi

 

 


Houston, Texas (1955)

Memphis, Tennessee (1954) ,
with Ashley Harden

From "Overton Park"

... the brighthot sun/ spreading beneath the trees invades the ballwashers in the shade:  / the brown grass sloping in swales to shimmering sand.../ bound by St. Augustine.

 


Akron, Ohio (1964)


Paju-ri, Korea (1966)

From "Basic Training"

"Get in line, get in line,
You have to do the ladder, boy,/ To eat." The officers and NCOs/ Returned from Nam, blink,/ Stare and sigh, anesthetized/ By the smell of blood./"Medic," the NCOIC says calmly,/ As in a dream, "Someone,/ "Someone get a medic."

Toolbox Philosophy

Being Alone/Being with Others (Buddhism)

Choosing the Good and the Beautiful (Ethics and Aesthetics)

A Fair Field of Folk (Politics and Religion)

How do we know what we know? (Epistemology)

The Meaning of Meaning (Language, Linguistic Analysis, Logical Posivitism)

No Excuses, No Escape (Existentialism)

Prince Andre's Presentiment
(Metaphysics)

 


Woolsthorpe Manor
Birthplace of Sir Isaac Newton,
Lincolnshire, England (1980)

 

From "The New River,
Ashe County,
North Carolina, 1994"

 ... I step where he has stepped/ Not to disturb the fragile earth,/ black and crumbly/ Beside the stream, not to disturb the hush/ Of the river’s/ edge where it meets lea water/ And bright round pebbles in the sun./ I watch the deer./  I step into the still water...

 

 


Blacksburg, Virginia (2005)

 


Words and Images

 Poetry

From "Friendship"

After the storm,/ the mountain pine/ lays down its burden of snow.


From "The Sea at Kamakura"

When the pale sun sank beyond Ise,/ and the heat, and the city sounds,/ I walked the heavy streets alone, / below the town, beside the bay,/ to smell the wet sand, taste the air ...

Photographs


Nicki (1969)


Rusty Earl (2001)

 

Letters & Essays

From "An Open Letter
to Aspiring Writers"

The two biggest problems most writers have are (1) not being aware that writing is, indeed, a thinking process, and not merely a mechanical processing of words, phrases, and sentences into computers and onto sheets of paper, and (2) conflating the writing process into one big bewildering activity that starts in chaos and ends less happily than one would have liked.

From "Revising Education"

I am not talking about "America's future," children doing what children do best (having fun growing up "naturally"), nor am I talking about “the farmers,” who have been coaxed (or forced) into doing other things beside teaching ... I am talking about the human asset that is the pride in oneself that comes from living up to one's true potential, Aristotle's entelechy.   I am talking about self-respect and the habit of excellence.

From "The Methods and Purposes of Discourse"

There are methods of writing and purposes of writing. A method is one thing, as we all know, and a purpose is something else. Nevertheless, in writing circles these two quite different things have frequently been confused, from time to time causing great consternation among teachers of writing, and sometimes pedagogical and ever political disputes, and confusion, despair, and animosity among students of writing.

 


Seoul, Korea (1985)

 

Professional Services,
Writing and Editing

Proofreading, Copyediting
Ghostwriting, Revising

Professional Services,
Web Development

Basic Site Construction
Writing for the Web

 


Nicki & Bruce
Venice (2009)

 


Guest Lecturers

Aristotle, "On Friendship"

" ... there are three main reasons why one person might like someone else ... One might like someone because he is good, or because he is useful, or because he is pleasant. And so there are three bases for friendships, depending on which of these qualities binds friends together."

Jose Ortega y Gasset, "Choosing to be Excellent"

"Nobility is defined by the demands it makes on us—by obligations, not by rights."

Cao Xueqin, "Girls in Their Summer Dresses"

"Reminders of my poverty were all about me: the thatched roof, the wicker lattices, the string beds, the crockery stove. But these did not need to be an impediment to the workings of the imagination."

Jose Ortega y Gassett, "Learned Ignorance"

"The specialist 'knows' very well his own tiny corner of the universe; he is radically ignorant of all the rest."

 


Little Stony Creek,
Giles County, Virginia (2006)





.

VITA

NAME:

John Bruce Cantrell
Email: johnbrucecantrell@verizon.net

Born: Memphis, Tennessee, August 29, 1942

Address: 605 Newman Lane, Blacksburg, VA 24060, 1-540-961-5771


FAMILY:



 My parents,
Ellabelle Sign (1903-1993) and Henry Grady Cantrell (1899-1971)
New York City (1931)





My wife.
Dorothy Treadwell (Nicki) Cantrell
with Simona, Caffe della Studente,
Rome (2007)

 

 

OCCUPATION:

 

   

Yovana Palacio, Natalia Rivera, Chang-hyun Cho, Audrey Wang

17 Gough Square™  (Instruction, Editing)

 

INSTRUCTION (English as a Second Language)
Host, Afternoon Tea: Conversational English (ESL)
Tutor, English Composition, Science Writing (ESL)
Tutor, Spoken English: American Phonetics (ESL)
Tutor, E pluribus unim: an American Profile (ESL)

WRITING AND EDITING

Writer: Original Manuscripts
Proofreader: Essays, Articles, Theses, Dissertations
Copyeditor: Articles for Publication
Editor: Texts and Photos

 

 

 

     

Bruce Cantrell (left, w/ Hannah Stroup), Angelo Biviano (middle, right, w/ Howard Williams), Dave Davis (right)

Blacksburg Fly Fishing™ (Instruction, Excursions)

 

INSTRUCTION
Fly Casting (Basic, Side-Arm, and Roll Casting)
Introduction to Fly Fishing, with Casting
Fly Fishing for Bass, with New River Excursion

EXCURSIONS

Big Stony Creek, Giles County, Virginai
Jackson River, Bath County, Virginia
Little Stony Creek, Giles County, Virginia
Mossy Creek, Augusta County, Virginia
New River, Montgomery County, Virginia
Rapidan River, Madison County, Virginia
Smith River, Henry County, Virginia
South Fork, Holston River, Smyth County, Virginia
Whitetop Laurel Creek, Washington County, Virginia

 

 

 

 

   

Tai Chi as taught by Grandmaster Cheng Man-ch'ing (1901-1975)

Temple Style Tai Chi Chuan (Instruction)

 

INSTRUCTION

Beginning Tai Chi (Warm-Up Exercises, Rudiments)
Intermediate Temple Style Tai Chi ("First Third")
Advanced Tai Chi (Grandmaster Cheng Man-ch'ing's Short Form)

Pushing Hands (Tai Chi Chuan for Self-Defense)
Ch'an, Son, and Zen Sitting Meditation (Breathing Exercises)
Tai Chi for Mental Health and Physical Fitness

 

 

 

COMMUNITY SERVICE:

 

2005-2007, 2008-2010, Private Tutor, English as a Second Language

Instructor, Graduate English as a Second Language
Instructor, Spoken English (American Phonetics)
Instructor, Graduate English Composition for ESL

2002-2005, Blacksburg Baptist Church, ESL

Instructor, Conversational English as a Second Language

2003-Present, Blacksburg Recreation Center

Instructor, Evening Tai Chi at BRC, 2010-
Instructor, Morning Tai Chi at BRC, 2010-
Instructor, Intermediate Tai Chi at BRC, 2012-
Instructor, Beginning Tai Chi, 2003-05, 2012-
Assistant Instructor, Tai Chi (Sifu Thomas Richardson), 2003-05
Lecturer: Photography, Fly Fishing, 2002

2004-2012, YMCA at Virginia Tech, Open University

Instructor, Fly Casting
Instructor, Introduction to Fly Fishing, with Casting
Instructor, Fly Fishing for Bass, with New River Excursion
Instructor, Evening Tai Chi at Meadowbrook, 2009
Instructor, Evening Tai Chi at the Y Center, 2011-2012

2005-2010, Art Pannonia, 114 N. Main, Blacksburg, VA 24060

Instructor, Evening Tai Chi at Art Pannonia

2007, Christiansburg Recreation Center

Instructor, Morning Tai Chi with Bruce Cantrell

 

 

RECENT BUSINESS EXPERIENCE:

 

2000-2001, VTLS, Inc., Blacksburg, VA: Sales Information Officer (Proposal Writer)

1997-2000, VTLS, Inc., Blacksburg, VA: Catalog and Imaging Specialist (Text and Photo Editor)


 

PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIVE & TEACHING EXPERIENCE:

 

1981-1997, Self-employed, Columbia, SC: Writer/Editor,
Visiting English Professor, Exchange Professor of English, Consultant

…

 

1989-1993, Lexington County, SC: Home Health Care Provider for Ellabelle Sign Cantrell, my mother (d. 1993)

1985-1989, Midlands Technical College, Columbia, SC: Adjunct Professor of English (Composition, Technical Writing)

1985 and 1986, Summer Sessions, Columbia Collge, Columbia, SC, and Sungshin Women's U., Seoul, Korea: Exchange Professor of English (Composition, American Literature

1982-1983, Columbia College, Columbia, SC: Visiting Professor, Scientific and Technical Writing

1981-1982, Coker College, Hartsville, SC: National Teaching Fellow in Composition and Director of the Writing Center

 

 

   
"Straw Hat"/ Sorak San/ "Pink Unbrella"

Korea (1986)


1971-1981, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC

…


1976-1981, U. of South Carolina, Columbia, SC: Assistant Professor of English (Advanced Writing), Director of the Writing Lab

1977-1978, Research Grants, NEH, Washington, DC: Visiting Humanist, Program Officer, Research Conferences

1975-1976, U. of South Carolina, Columbia, SC: Instructor (Tutor), Founding Director of the Writing Lab

1971-1975, U. of South Carolina, Columbia, SC: GRA (Library Acquisitions), GTA (Composition)


 

PREVIOUS BUSINESS EXPERIENCE:

 

1968-1971, Atlanta Federal Savings & Loan, Atlanta, GA: Loan Officer and Branch Manage



 

MILTARY EXPERIENCE:

 

1972, Honorable Discharge, Capt., Artillery, USAR: Letter of Commendation, National Defense Service Medal.  Instruction:  General Artillery Principles (USAR)

1967-1968, 1st Lieut., Artillery, USA, Company B, 5th Battalion, 2nd Training Brigade, Ft. Gordon, GA: Basic Training Company Commander, a captain's posting.  Instruction:  Close Order Drill

1966-1967, 2nd Lieut., Artillery, USA, MacDonald Barracks, 7th Division Artillery, Korea: 7th Division Artillery Assistant Operations & Training Officer, a captain's posting.  Instruction:  Advanced Gunnery, Artillery Positioning, Safety Procedures

1966, 2nd Lieut., Artillery, USA, Battery C, 1/79 Artillery Battalion, 7th Division Artillery, Korea: Forward Observer, a second lieutenant's posting; Fire Direction Officer, a first lieutenant's posting.  Instruction:  Land Navigation, Gunnery (Fire Direction)

 

 

EDUCATION:

 

PhD, English Literature & Philology, U. of South Carolina (1975):  the Beowulf poet and old Engish literature, Geoffrey Chaucer, Sir Thomas Malory, John Skelton, Edmund Spenser, William Shakespeare, Samuel Johnson, John Keats, Thomas Hardy, William Butler Yeats.

Dissertation: "A Commentary on Shakespeare's Julius Caesar" ( a philological study of meaning and the evidence for glosses in 16th and 17th century English).  Leeds Barroll, Director.

MA (with honors), Medieval & Renaissance English Literature, U. of South Carolina (1972):  the Beowulf poet, Geoffrey Chaucer, Christopher Marlowe, John Donne, Edmund Spenser, John Milton.

Thesis: "Though Worlds Judg'd Thee Perverse: Christian Heroism and the Ascent to Light in Milton's Paradise Lost, Books 1-VI" (obedience and loyalty in Abdiel's choice).  Philip Rollinson, Director.

BSc, English Education, Ohio State U. (1965, no degree)

BA, English and Psychology, Ohio State U. (1964)


 

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