Gordon Holcombe

Student

“It’s going to be a really interesting election this year.”

His disclaimer about the effects of time sounds a little like an ad for a really good watch. “After twenty years, I’ve only lost three seconds,” says Gordon Holcombe. But the time he’s referring to is his current “personal best” in the backstroke event where he holds the starting position on the SMC swim team. And his re-entry to college—after 20 years of eclectic work—indeed seems to be going as smoothly as clockwork. “I’m really enjoying the discipline of the whole process—competing in the pool and in the classroom. But I definitely know I’m the oldest guy on the team,” says Gordon.

Gordon has had a successful career as a musician all over California. “I’ve had some of my music on the radio and I traveled for a couple of years with a group,” he says. “But the successes were always small-ish.” He’s also been a children’s naturalist at an ecology school and a booking agent for clubs. But now he’s in a definite “re-tooling” mode.

“I’ve gotten sparked by writing and English,” says Gordon. “Life has been personally, but not financially, fulfilling. So I’m looking into some way of making writing a new career; one that pays.”

At SMC Gordon is also studying the relevance of history to events of the day. “We’re studying Rousseau and John Locke and the origins of democracy. And it’s clear that the political foundations of this country have been diminished,” he says. “Money really does have a stranglehold on the whole political process. It’s no longer a democracy that’s responsive to its people.” Gordon is encouraged, however, to see the growing strength of women’s, minority and ecological groups in the country. “Collectively, I think all these groups will help us bring a halt to all the ways we divide ourselves.”

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