He was expelled from two boarding schools as a kid. He ran away from a reform school in Maine with intentions of hitchhiking his way across country to California only to end up sneaking in and getting kicked out of a Crosby, Stills, and Nash concert. He lived amongst a Kenyan tribe during wartime and filled out his first college application on corn husks while in Africa. He has sang and played guitar for three different bands along the way as well. Oh yeah, and he's an English/Writing instructor at LBCC.
He is Jed Wyman, and he teaches Writing 121 at LBCC.
In a way, Wyman was destined to be an English instructor from a young age, as his parents were both English professors at the University of Stanford during the tumultuous 1960's.
When students occupied various administrative buildings in protest of civil rights and the Vietnam War, Wyman's father served as a mediator of sorts between the protesting students and law enforcement and school officials.
"I remember my mother would be allowed to meet my father at the door to bring him lunch, but very few people were allowed on the premises." Wyman said. He believes his father's history in the military coupled with the fact that he was a political liberal may have made him the perfect mediator between the two sides.
Wyman also attributes his parent's vast library to his early love of literature.
"I've loved to read from as early as I can remember. My favorite early authors were Louis L'amour, Max Brand, and Zane Grey." said Wyman, "I think I was drawn to them first because they were on the bottom shelf, and they were the only ones I could reach."
Although from a young age Wyman was equipped with the resources to become an English instructor, school was not always his thing. In fact, it wasn't until after an unfortunate run in with a bouncer and his mag light at a Crosby, Stills, and Nash concert that Wyman decided to change his direction and volunteer his time to teaching.
"I got my ass kicked!" said Wyman, and shortly after, he hooked up with an organization called Global Roots and was on his way to Kenya.
"I had a great teaching experience in Kenya." said Wyman
While in Kenya, Wyman encountered many obstacles including; attacks from rival tribes, bouts of malaria, lack of medical supplies, and lack of money, but he also gained teaching experience and his desire to go back to school.
"I filled out my first college application on corn husks." said Wyman because he lacked basic school supplies like paper.
Upon his acceptance into college, Wyman remembers donating the majority of what little cash he had left to his Kenyan host family to purchase medical supplies for their youngest daughter who was suffering from cerebral malaria.
"When I left her head was still terribly swollen." Wyman said, "I think she's okay now. I just got a picture from the family, and I think she's doing okay now."
Wyman went on to spend two years studying at Bard College in upstate New York before moving on to the University of Montana in Missoula, Mont. where he earned a BA in History.
While at the University of Montana, Wyman had the opportunity to travel Italy where he got the chance to tour the Battlefields of Monte Cassino. He found two German hand grenades that he stowed in his backpack with intentions of donating to a museum.
"I was carrying them around with me for like two weeks!" said Wyman before he wandered into an Italian museum to donate them.
While at the museum, Wyman struck up a conversation with a retired British soldier, and informed him of the grenades in his backpack. The man did not react calmly yelling, "You got what!? Two German hand grenades, in your bag, in here!? Good god man! You gotta get em outta here!"
The museum was promptly evacuated, and Wyman was sent trudging through the streets in search of Italian police to turn the grenades over to.
After graduating from the University of Montana, Wyman was accepted into the graduate program at Oregon State University where he received an MFA in Creative Writing.
Wyman has been teaching writing courses at LBCC since 2010, and understands that a wide variety of life experiences can lead to writing good literature.
"I prefer to have a really casual atmosphere in class." said Wyman. He starts every class by asking his students "Does anyone have any humorous anecdotes, recent adventures, or minor mishaps they'd like to share." Wyman realizes these anecdotes and adventures are sometimes good launching pads for creative writing students.
In his spare time, Wyman enjoys rocking out with his band "El Indio" as well as continuing to work on his writing.
At a Glance: Jed Wyman
Writing 121 Instructor
Office: SSH-208
Office Hours: M, W, F 10:00-12:00
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