Ann (Lyon) Brooke

After 2 years at Oberlin College I transferred to the University of Minnesota where I received a Masters and also an Educational Specialist degree in school psychology. I married my high school boyfriend, Jeff Brooke, ALHS Class of 1962. While Jeff was on active duty in the Marine Corps we had two sons, Jason and Jesse. To date, each son has retained his bachelor status.

We moved to Minneapolis in 1973 where I worked in several school districts as a psychologist. In 1980 our family moved to Paradise Valley, Arizona near Phoenix where I worked with the Paradise Valley School District. I retired in 1993 and took a series or art classes, eventually focusing on jewelry making (metal smithing) as a hobby.

Ever since Jeff and I began sailing a small sailboat on the Mississippi in 1975, we held the dream of ocean cruising. After years of chartering we bought a 51 foot sailboat and sailed from San Diego, California in 1999. Homeless and unemployed, we sailed south to Ecuador, then across the South Pacific to New Zealand. We next sailed to Fiji, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, and Australia. This past year took us to the Trobriand Islands in Papua New Guinea where we visited Wally Kennedy's daughter, Kathy. We then sailed through Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Oman, and then up the Red Sea stopping in Egypt.

Mike Morrison (ALHS Class of 1961) and his wife Stacy crewed with us three different times, most recently through the Red Sea. Most of the time, the two of us sail alone, stopping here and there for serious inland travel. Turkey is our next stop where we will visit Sena Tuncalp Oran, ALHS exchange student who lived with my family in 1959. After that, who knows? After all, we are in the Med now. Our website covers some of our adventures and misadventures sailing. Please stop by www.sailhighdrama.com.

8/10/2005 UPDATE ! !

We sailed all night from the Naples area south to Vibo Valentia on the shoelaces of the boot of Southern Italy. Out of 27 hours we motored 24. The night was inky black, moonless, and shrouded with cold dew. We will leave High Drama in a family run marina here when head back to Phoenix. She has been a good vessel for us. (I almost think she can hear me now, like Hal the computer in 2001 Space Odyssey.) In the final analysis, she is a better boat than we are sailors. But when we leave here, we will begin the process of putting her up for sale. And when she is sold, our odyssey will finally end. It's been a hell of a ride!

Jeff and Ann Brooke

% Bowman and Brooke, Suite #1700

2929 North Central Avenue

Phoenix, Arizona 85012