Racing Odysseus: A College President Becomes a Freshman Again by Roger H. Martin

From the Publisher

The idea of reliving youth is a common fantasy, but who among us is actually courageous enough to try it? After surviving a deadly cancer against tremendous odds, college president Roger H. Martin did just that -- he enrolled at St. John's College, the Great Books school in Annapolis, Maryland, as a sixty-one-year-old freshman. This engaging, often humorous memoir of his semester at St. John's tells of his journey of discovery as he falls in love again with Plato, Socrates, and Homer, improbably joins the college crew team, and negotiates friendships across generational divides. Along the way, Martin ponders one of the most pressing questions facing education today: do the liberal arts still have a role to play in a society that seems to value professional, vocational, and career training above all else? Elegantly weaving together the themes of the great works he reads with events that transpire on the water, in the coffee shop, and in the classroom, Martin finds that a liberal arts education may be more vital today than ever before. This is the moving story of a man who faces his fears, fully embraces his second chance, and in turn rediscovers the gifts of life and learning.

About the Author
ROGER H. MARTIN is Professor of History Emeritus and past president at Randolph-Macon College in Ashland, Virginia.

Booklist

Alternately amusing and poignant, Martin's personal epic offers a much-needed perspective on cultural dilemmas both ancient and modern.

Elizabeth R. Hayford - Library Journal

In his engaging memoir, Martin (history, emeritus, former president, Randolph-Macon Coll.) examines a number of experiences uncommon to 61-year-old college presidents. On a sabbatical after horrific treatments for cancer, he enrolled as a freshman at St. John's College in Maryland, studied classics, joined the crew team, prepared for a major race, and learned to connect with his 18-year-old classmates. He notes the follies of the students, as well as his own, and offers perceptive and affectionate insights into the challenges of growing up in today's complicated world. Education is his profession, and as he carefully observes the impact of the Great Books curriculum at St. John's, he sees the relevance of the Greek classics to our own time, from family relations, to the arrogance of leaders in wartime, to the value of truth and justice. He reaffirms his conviction that the liberal arts and sciences, with their emphasis on learning how to reason logically and morally, to think analytically, and to live as good citizens, are the most effective preparation for life as well as for multiple careers. In leaving his comfortable life as a successful college president, he shows that it is possible even in one's sixties to learn something new and to envision the future. Highly recommended for general libraries.

What People Are Saying

I think this is a very good book indeed: extremely readable with a very human story to tell (about the author's journey to rediscover himself and education after facing imminent death) and a message to send (about the role of the liberal arts in our lives as well as our education). Martin employs compelling references to and quotations from the classical texts he read in the St. John's freshman seminar: this is not heavy-handed "you should read Aeschylus if you want to call yourself educated" stuff, but rather the humble confession of a humanist who knows one is never too old, educated, or experienced to learn something new or again. And that is a message that will always be valuable. --Loren J. Samons II, author of What's Wrong with Democracy: From Athenian Practice to American Worship

Roger Martin has created a riveting narrative of his confrontation with mortality, and, in that encounter, a testimonial to the enduring value of liberal education. --Douglas W. Foard, Executive Secretary (ret.) of Phi Beta Kappa

Product Details

• Table of Contents

Table of Contents