Self-Taught Poet to Teach Writing Course at College

The classrooms of Santa Monica College are a long way from the humble beginnings of Jimmy Santiago Baca, who will be teaching poetry and creative writing classes there this spring.

Baca, who was raised for a while by his grandparents in New Mexico and later lived in an orphanage, spent much of his youth living on the streets. After being convicted of drug possession, he served a prison term in Arizona. It was while in prison that he taught himself to read and write.

With the encouragement of Will Inman, former publisher of New Kauri poetry magazine, Baca began to submit poems to other magazines. He has since published six volumes of poetry.

Baca received the International Hispanic Heritage Award in 1989, and was recently awarded the Wallace Stevens Yale Poetry Fellowship.

When he’s not conducting poetry workshops, Baca writes poetry and essays. “I hope to bring back real life to poetry,” he added. “I want to continue to discover the unknown.”

Brentwood resident Kenfield Kennedy was elected president of the Society of Industrial and Office Realtors for the greater Los Angeles chapter. Kennedy, a graduate of UCLA, has been in the real estate business for more than 30 years. He is also a board member for the UCLA Foundation, the College of Letters and Science and the School of Architecture and Planning.

California Community Colleges Chancellor David Mertes has appointed Rosalie Argenta to a three-year term on the Santa Monica College Personnel Commission.

The three-member commission administrates the personnel program for all non-teaching employees.

Argenta, of Santa Monica, owns a labor relations consulting firm. He is also active in the Westside Women’s Health Center, Girls Club of Santa Monica Bay Area and Santa Monica Police Activities League.

Julius Kaupas of Santa Monica was one of three students to share the James F. Lincoln Arc Welding Foundation’s 1990 Pre-Professional Awards Program in the undergraduate division. The winning entry was a mechanical device for removing the crown of a pineapple. The national program recognizes excellence in college-level engineering research and design. Kaupas recently graduated from California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo and will share the $2,000 award.