Retirement…Effective Today!

Today, August 17, 2025 will always be a special day in my life. After working in the California State University system since I was a graduate assistant in the electronic music studio at CSU Northridge in 1978, I’m officially retiring today. It’s hard to believe that I’ve accumulated 40 years of service to the CSU system. This fall I will begin receiving a pension check for the first time. However, the university offers a program known as FERP (Faculty Early Retirement Program), which allows retirees to continue teaching half time for up to five years at half salary. So I’m headed back to the classroom in about a week for the fall semester but will have the winter to do whatever I want. I’ve already secured both Epic and Ikon ski passes. My plan is to spend a lot of time in the mountains of Utah, California, Colorado, and Montana skiing the best snow on the best mountains. I love to ski and want to take advantage of the next few years to enjoy the sport before my body won’t allow me to continue.

I left Michigan in the fall of 1973 after my mother died of breast cancer. My father was also taken by cancer five years earlier and there was little reason to stay in the Midwest. I had dropped out of my architecture studies at the University of Michigan the prior semester to take care of my mom. My dream of finding fame and fortune in the music business meant relocating to Los Angeles, so I packed up my new orange Chevy Vega wagon and with a few weeks in Aspen (again the ski bug got me) and headed west. It’s funny because my new place in Venice, California is minutes away from the the first apartment I had with my friend Mike in Santa Monica. I haven’t strayed very far in the past 50 years. I became a Californian and have loved it here.

After a year of studying music and piano at Santa Monica College, I transferred to CSU Northridge. The music program at CSUN is very well regarded and I looked forward to learn about music theory, improve my musicianship, and meet other students on the same path. I was also taking independent training in audio engineering at Soundmaster Recording School from Brian Ingoldsby in Hollywood. Slowly but surely my path forward – both educationally and professionally – was becoming clear. And I was a good student…actually a very good student. The challenges provided by all of my courses was daunting. I was not and am not a naturally talented musician. But I loved learning about music history and literature, music theory, counterpoint, orchestration, musicianship, and electronic music, a subject that fit perfectly with my background in electronics, recording, and music. I graduated summa cum laude in 1978.

It was under the guidance of Dr. Aurelio de la Vega, the titular head of the electronic music studio that I secured my first job at the university. The professor required an assistant and I was hired as the graduate assistant in the course in spite of the fact that I hadn’t yet graduated. I already knew a lot of tape machines, synthesizers, and mixing and earned a whopping $300 per month. But my tenure in the CalPERS (California Public Employees Retirement System) was officially launched in the fall of 1978. I have been continuously employed by the CSU ever since – over 40 years! But today my application for retirement takes over.

During my time at Northridge, I taught the electronic music courses, music theory, musicianship, and accepted a part time staff position as the Music Department’s repair technician and recording engineer. I worked full time for several years while I completed graduate degrees at Northridge, Cal Arts, and UCLA. But I always had at least a part time position within the CSU system. And I am so fortunate that I did.

In 1992, I applied to and was hired as a tenure track faculty member at another Southern California CSU campus in Dominguez Hills. That’s where I have been for the remainder of my teaching career. I started in the music department teaching musicianship and music theory in addition to audio engineering and production. I was able to accumulate enough service credit years to reach full retirement benefits. At 40 years, the CalPERS package affords me 100% of my paycheck, reimbursement of my Medicare Part B costs, and a paid supplemental health plan. It really is a generous plan and run out of the state so the likelihood of it going bankrupt is very small.

While teaching all of those years, I founded, ran, and grew my own studio business, started a record label, built one of the first DVD authoring and compression studios, and developed some unique technologies in the post production arena. As you can imagine, I worked a lot…probably too much. I did enjoy spending hours in the studio, producing products for Walt Disney, CBS, BMG, Troma Films, and many others. But all of that is behind me now. I’m trying desperately to find a new path forward.

The loss of my house and other personal challenges have made me unsure of how the future will play out. Will I rebuild my house in the Palisades? I honestly don’t know. A divorce settlement may not award me the property. I just returned from a flying lesson out of Santa Monica airport. I already have a private pilot’s license with a glider certification but am anxious to add power to my licenses and eventually an instrument rating. My dad was a pilot and I’ve always love airplanes. I should be a certified pilot sometime later this fall. I contemplating getting an airplane and exploring places far and wide over the next few years.

So I have things to keep me busy. I hope to have a wood shop again and return to building furniture. We’ll see. And I look forward to traveling to new places in the states and overseas.

I still manage AIX Records and spend minimal time taking orders and shipping discs. But I don’t anticipate producing any new titles or re-engaging with the trade show circuit. I’ve done all that.