Bonnie Strain White

1. Retired? What %? 1. 10% Do women ever retire? Still going full tilt.
2. Have you downsized? 2. no
3. How many different homes since finishing school? 3. 6
4.. Have you lived in a property on Nat'l Historic Reg? 4. Yes, and in an historic town, New Castle, DE for 15 years
5. Have you owned/now own a "classic" car? 5. no
6. Favorite sport/game now 6. tennis
7. Favorite pastime now 7. reading, as always
8. How are you saving the Earth? 8. compost heap, use clothesline, walk
9. Important Cause you support 9. Planned Parenthood
10. If Life is Perseverance and Luck - for you it has been 10. (In endeavors since high school) Luck % 10% Perseverance % 90%
11. Have you run for Office? 11. Yes - Ran for City Council in New Castle, DE, in 1973 but, lucky for me, did not win. The Council that was elected was taken to Federal Court by the Police Chief. After the election 1) I asked for and got Federal Rev. sharing money and planted trees all over town and 2) my HUSBAND was appointed to 4 commissions. 12. Do you write letters to the Editor? 12. I suggest stories sometimes.
13. Lead/Led an Organization? 13. Pres. Tree Commission USTA Team Captain
14. Personal Description in Life 14. artist/property manager

More Info

15. Worst fashion fad since 1957 For men - the unshaven look For women - clothes that have logos everywhere advertising their makers.
16. New word since 1957 that you use all the time : glich or newbie
17. Best invention since 1957 - large in scope The Pill
18. Best gadget since 1957 : either microwave oven or answering machines
19. Best medical breakthrough since 1957 : For our family, Lasik surgery
20. Your participation in the Computer revolution : wrote user manuals for DuPont Co systems, did accounting and payroll for a business enterprise on computers, attempting to do a reunion book via document upload

Bio

After high school, I went to Vassar College, studied history, and was able to continue taking Spanish (lucky choice!)in college, and at summer school in Spain during the summer of 1960. My minor was English. Today, I follow the news, with all of the old facts and theories of the past in mind. During 2 years of college, I lived in a glass box dorm designed by Marcel Breuer. After graduating from college, I was lucky enough to get my first job in New York City in market research with a big corporation, on the 41st floor of Rockefeller Center, looking over the skating rink. A year later I worked as a researcher/speech writer for an engineer-turned-lobbyist, in an office located across the street from The Plaza Hotel. During those years I went to the theatre all the time, when the best shows were on Broadway - Sound of Music, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, How to Succeed in Business…, Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf etc. I think of it as New York City 105. During those two years I met my future husband, Jerry White, by way of Wally Knack, IHS 1953; they had served on the same destroyer together in the Navy. I married in the Fall of 1963 and moved to Delaware, a 3 county state, where my husband's large family was everywhere. Our family and connections have provided more interesting situations than any novel or soap opera could ever do. My husband's commercial real estate transactions, also, are full of high drama.

After college, finally, with no homework to do, I started sketching and making watercolor paintings in the street near West 46th Street, where I was living with 2 grad. students of Social Work. (I learned their lingo along with them.) I went to The Art Student's League at night that first year in NYC, which turned out to be a famous place, and great to have now on my Art Resume. I taught high school for a while in Delaware, but was told to "have my children while I was young" when I tried to get the teaching job I really wanted. So I did. We have 2 girls, 2 years and 3 days apart. One is a construction project manager here in Wilmington and the other is a PR type, now being a stay-at-home mom to our 3 grandchildren who live nearby. I began to draw and paint as soon as my two little girls would "let" me, and have portraits of them from those years. I began a pen and ink sketching business for realtors for a while, produced "Landmark Notes" for sale in museum shops and competed in watercolor competitions. In 1977 I joined The Studio Group, Inc., a ladies art group, which owns the historic Howard Pyle Studios in Wilmington, DE - built in 1883 and 1901. Recently, I took on the task of rebuilding many parts of the buildings - the drain pipes, the slate roof, three furnaces - and asking the local Foundations for the money to do it. I was shocked and gratified that I could persuade them to give us the money -- as I feel that I can't "sell" anything. I now compete and show art in the Mid-Atlantic region. My subjects are: sports, sail boats, beach scenes, the wave, the flag, and personal objects, such as wedding still lifes. I recently completed two paintings of lobsters, one cooked, one in situs.

In 1979, after my sister Janet dropped dead for no reason, I wanted the security of a real job, and, because of what Ken Lembach said to me once, I decided that I would be a good technical writer for math types. By 1981, I had taken Computer Science 105 at UD and had gotten a contract position at The DuPont Company writing their user manuals, not through regular channels since DuPont only hired people with BS degrees, but by word of mouth - from a tennis friend!!! The programmers were happy to have someone else do their writing. I realized then that big changes were about to occur in the office world thanks to e-mail, word processing, etcetera. My final work with DuPont in 1989 (when they handed over their IT function to Accenture) was for the hourly workers' wage roll system, where I became informed about the pre-tax perks of corporate workers and realized how unfair the health care arrangement is in the USA. We should ALL pay for health care with pre-tax dollars. After that, I did accounting and payroll for my husband's company and managed our rental properties. One is in Lewes, DE on the beach, on Common Land designated by William Penn, and 3 others are zoned historic.

If I were in school today, I'm sure I would be like my mother and like my daughters - in a sport for every season. That is the only thing that is better now than when we went to school. We were lucky to be able to get back and forth to school by ourselves, feel safe at all times, be taught by dedicated teachers and be in a setting where it was "in" to do well and where the people around us spoke proper English. My sport in high school was sailing. My sport now is tennis. I do play golf from time to time (with luck, had 2 holes-in-one -the latest was on June 15) but tennis is the game I play for fun, exercise, high drama, sociability and to connect with the bigger world. An aerobic high is the best way to keep away the blues.

I am known in tennis for being a backboard (perseverance?) and having a topspin lob to the baseline that wins a point. In my family, my apple pies are famous. At Christmastime, I am the "bow lady" thanks to my first job at my aunt's florist shop. More and more, I am known as the one who takes the photos at ceremonial events. All those years of being an artist is paying off via the digital camera, I guess. Words of wisdom: Less is More, and Use the K.I.S.S. method for everything. The golden rule is the only way to go. Background music for my life should be '50s and '60's pop tunes that can make you want to dance. The actress to play me: Judi Dench.