2008 Woodie Awards
Former commune member, current
Fil Baloca
Issue date: 5/18/06 Section: Campus News
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Stephen DeTray,
Interdisciplinary Arts and
Sciences lecturer, tends to
infuse his classroom lectures with
his own life experiences. His stories
about growing up in Africa and living
in a commune have intrigued
students and faculty alike, in his
classes and around campus.
These experiences helped
create his passion for the Non-
Profit Management Minor and
Certificate courses, which he
developed.
The Ledger had the chance to
sit down with him to learn more
about the man and his life. His
easy going nature and candidness
were as trademark as the tweed
cap that sits atop his head.
How did you end up
growing up in Africa?
I went to Africa in 1954. My
dad was a veterinary scientist.
He got hired by the Department
of Agriculture that was working
on a project with the British government
and the colonial government
in Kenya. He spent a lot of
the time running around chasing
after animals, and we'd go with
him sometimes.
You really got into the
music scene when you
returned from Africa?
I got into playing the blues
when I got back. I played music
in Berkeley and San Francisco
and would run into The Grateful
Dead and Jefferson Airplane. In
'67
I had a band called Ant
Trip Ceremony. We made one
record and it became a cult classic.
Somebody in my class just
recently did a Google search and
found out it was over a thousand
bucks if you could find a (vinyl)
copy at this point, because there's
not many of them out there.
You disappeared into the
wilderness at one point in
your life?
About 1968, things were going
downhill rather fast in the country
in my mind. Martin Luther
King Jr. was assassinated, Bobby
Kennedy had been shot not long
before then and Penn State happened
and it was pretty bad. So
I ended up basically running
off into the woods in Southern
Oregon and built a log cabin
and was married and ended up
Interdisciplinary Arts and
Sciences lecturer, tends to
infuse his classroom lectures with
his own life experiences. His stories
about growing up in Africa and living
in a commune have intrigued
students and faculty alike, in his
classes and around campus.
These experiences helped
create his passion for the Non-
Profit Management Minor and
Certificate courses, which he
developed.
The Ledger had the chance to
sit down with him to learn more
about the man and his life. His
easy going nature and candidness
were as trademark as the tweed
cap that sits atop his head.
How did you end up
growing up in Africa?
I went to Africa in 1954. My
dad was a veterinary scientist.
He got hired by the Department
of Agriculture that was working
on a project with the British government
and the colonial government
in Kenya. He spent a lot of
the time running around chasing
after animals, and we'd go with
him sometimes.
You really got into the
music scene when you
returned from Africa?
I got into playing the blues
when I got back. I played music
in Berkeley and San Francisco
and would run into The Grateful
Dead and Jefferson Airplane. In
'67
I had a band called Ant
Trip Ceremony. We made one
record and it became a cult classic.
Somebody in my class just
recently did a Google search and
found out it was over a thousand
bucks if you could find a (vinyl)
copy at this point, because there's
not many of them out there.
You disappeared into the
wilderness at one point in
your life?
About 1968, things were going
downhill rather fast in the country
in my mind. Martin Luther
King Jr. was assassinated, Bobby
Kennedy had been shot not long
before then and Penn State happened
and it was pretty bad. So
I ended up basically running
off into the woods in Southern
Oregon and built a log cabin
and was married and ended up
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