Jay G. Kier:
CLASS OF 1969
John H. Francis Polytechnic High SchoolClass of 1969
Sun valley, CA
Jay G.'s Story
Life
Jay (George) Kier:
I don't remember much of Poly.
It's not just "drugs", it's the time passing, and probably personal makeup. I have friends who remind me of things and they don't "ring the bell" of memory for me, but they have clear recollection.
I have a couple of lifelong friends from Poly, but they graduated a year or two later. I went to Valley Jr. College on and off after graduating with no clear goal in mind, taking mostly music or philosophy classes...the two interests that have been consistent and lifelong for me. I was immersed in classical music as a child and played piano and later cello in junior high at Madison. I did not play during high school and actually became interested in guitar at a graduation party while listening to someone playing (Steve Diamond, so I remember that!). One of the friends I mentioned, Mike O'Neill, graduated Poly a year or so after I did and became a fantastic jazz guitarist and has been playing with George Benson for many years, as well as others like Natalie Cole, Stevie Wonder, Rickie Lee Jones, etc.
I settled on the blues (a far cry from the Mozart of my childhood) and have been playing semi-professionally since, as life allowed.
I also went on to obtain my BA in philosophy from UCSB and did some time in their graduate program in Religious Studies...making an intense study (actual and scholastic) of Eastern Religion, Philosophy and mysticism. Being rais...Expand for more
ed Jewish in a Christian country with these other interests to follow, and a very liberal mentality overall (especially when younger) has led me to the conclusion that conclusions can be dangerous. While it's super important to know who you are and what your values are, it's dangerous to impose that on others or to assume one's beliefs are truths. Dogmatism scares me. Too many people are obsessed with things that don't matter spiritually, and they don't even know it!
All such abstractions were superceded by the exigencies of providing for my kids. I have two daughters (now 23 and 30) from a first marriage who are basically well and happy, and a 14 year old son from a second marriage who suffered immensely from his mothers drug addicted life-style when he lived with her (until 2000). He still is in tremendous agony and suffers more than any child ever should. That has pretty much occupied my time and energy for a long time, so many personal interests of mine were long ago abandoned.
My overiding value in life is to meet the demands of life with sincerity and hard work and the best attitude possible. I do not want it said of me that I did not do my duty, or that I did it only out of duty and was ungrateful, or did not take the time to see the great beauty that Life, still and always, has to offer.
I work for the City of Santa Barbara in the Building Maintenance division as a painter for the last 12 years or so
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