True Stories

Ann Mariah Stewart: Educator,
Sailor, Writer, Park Ranger

Vowing she would "never grade another paper," 58 year old Ann Mariah Stewart ended 30 years as an English and history instructor at American River College in Sacramento, California, eager to launch a new career. (As it turned out, she didn't keep this promise, but we'll get to that in a moment.)

She would spend the next five years packing in more adventure than many of us see in a life time, including enrolling in and withdrawing from a Ph.D. program in psychology, living on a 33-foot sloop in San Diego harbor -- she is an experienced sailor with over 30,000 blue water miles on small sailboats -- authoring a health column for San Diego Magazine On-Line, camping alone in a van in the West with a trip to Baja, Mexico, to pet whales, and becoming a park ranger intern at Canyonlands National Park. Oh, yes, the divorced mother of a grown son has also written many articles on sailing and adventure, two novels, and is the author of Tangles of the Mind, A Journey Through Alzheimer's (Elderberry Press, 1991). "It was my twelve year experience with my mother’s Alzheimer's disease that changed the way I look at the importance of the rest of my life," she says.

Watching the Navy ships gliding in and out of San Diego harbor, Ann Mariah had an idea that would marry her love of the sea with her experience as a teacher. She was quickly hired by Central Texas College (www.ctcd.cc.tx.us) which has a contract to provide teachers to the Navy. Soon, she was aboard the USS Comstock bound for the Persian Gulf, teaching U.S. history to sailors and marines. On four different voyages, she taught on mess decks and stern posts, in Ward Rooms and tiny libraries. "The students were very polite, the classes small, the shared living quarters tiny and the noise unbelievable, but I enjoyed doing two month stints and seeing the world." What she hadn't already seen, that is. Previously, she had lived in the Fiji Islands for a year, visited 40 countries, and taught in high schools in Japan and Puerto Rico.

What does someone with salt water in their veins do for an encore? Recently, Ann Mariah decided to fulfill a dream of becoming a park ranger. As a Student Conservation Association Volunteer (www.sca-inc.org), she moved into the shared housing at Canyonlands National Park and began working nine hour days along side young seasonal rangers. She loved it so much, she decided to stay. The boat was sold and her new home is a 100-year old adobe cottage in Moab, UT.

What's next? Ann Mariah is considering working with retirees as a coach to encourage them to "be experimental and excited about the last third of life." Her philosophy? Be bold, flexible and creative. She believes her sixties will be her best years yet because she can do whatever the moment calls for, using all her past skills but not being confined by them.

Getting Started

For more information about volunteer and paid jobs with the parks, check out www.nps.gov/volunteer/index.htm

A Master’s degree in an academic subject qualifies you for teaching on U.S. Navy ships. Retired teachers are especially welcome. (PACE Program, Central Texas College, 6200 West Central Texas Expressway, P.O. Box 1800, Killeen, Texas 76540.) To contact Ann Mariah directly, email: eliz4959@yahoo.com