Name: C. Owen Paepke
Website: purplepresidency.org; cowenpaepke.substack.com
Age: 68
Title: overeducated iconoclast, with a conscience
Kids: not yet
City you live in: Scottsdale winter, Breckenridge summer
A typical day in my life includes… writing, hiking, filling out forms
I was born… presumably, but my memories of it are vague. Seriously, if I was born to do something, it was to write The Evolution of Progress 30 years ago and what I’m doing now.
My favorite thing about Arizona… memories of a life lived
I’m listening to… Patrick O’Brian’s Aubrey Maturin series
My family… Mostly deceased, don’t wish to be morbid, but there it is
If I could have dinner with anyone, it would be… Abraham Lincoln, without a question. Where did the magic come from, to be that President in the nation’s time of need, and to write the Gettysburg address?
One thing I cannot live without… reading/writing
When I was younger, I wanted to be… the person who reconciled quantum mechanics and relativity
I’m inspired by…. Francis Fukuyama. What intellectual class! What economy of expression! What ambition (even when he’s wrong)!
The one person who motivates me is…. Me
If I could change anything in the world, it would be…Restoring America to a constructive, functioning democracy
The perfect day would be… when the above happens
My first job was… teaching tennis in a town of 3000
My favorite escape… old movies. I also like teaching chess to kids
My life… has been better than I deserve
I’m currently working on… see if I could change anything above
Always… keep trying, regardless of naysayers
Never… feel sorry for yourself—what’s the point, and others have it much worse
Favorite Quote… right now, “a house divided against itself cannot stand”
Biggest Dream… see if I could change anything above
My Pet Peeve(s)… Filling out forms
Bio-on yourself/company: An education addict in my youth—prep school, Stanford, Univ. of Chicago. Since then, alternating between author and attorney/frustrated author and entrepreneur/frustrated author. Now I’m retired, so it’s simplified itself to author/frustrated author. Five books to my credit, two of which count for something, plus some articles.
