Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas says in his new book it’s been difficult being a black Republican—that many blacks feel he’s betrayed them. True for you?
It hasn’t been a problem. For the most part, people know Trevor Harvey. I’m a product of Newtown.

We had the Louisiana “Jena 6”and now a noose on display in Punta Gorda. What did you think about the local incident?
I was disturbed by it. He [the Punta Gorda man displaying the noose] said it was a joke. If you know enough about history and what African-Americans went through, then you know there are certain things you don’t joke about.

What’s the state of black/white relations in Sarasota?
There are small incidents. Is it where we want it to be? No. But overall, relations are pretty good.

You were one of the few Republican leaders who were vocal about voting irregularities in the Congressional election.
No one should be disenfranchised from voting. Everybody has the right to vote as citizens and we should be concerned.

You are the community-parent liaison for the Phoenix Academy. Tell me about that.
The Phoenix Academy is designed to deal with academically at-risk students in grades eight through 10. We teach them in small classrooms with about 15 to 20 students. Literacy is the biggest piece of what we do. Everything else flows from there.

Are we closing the so-called achievement gap between minority and white students in Sarasota schools?
We’re heading in the right direction. We have to continue to be diligent in what we’re doing until we see as many minority graduates as their counterparts.

What do you think of Barack Obama?
He’s a sharp young man. He’s going to go a long way. Not to take anything away from Jessie Jackson and Al Sharpton, but this is a true, viable candidate who has a large following.

What do you like to do when you’re not working?
Family is my priority. I have a lovely wife and three beautiful children. I do what I do in the community because of my family and other families. —Kim Hackett

City Beat

Lifelong Learning
Pierian Spring keeps education lively for adults, and 30 years after Condominium, what John D. MacDonald still has to teach us.

By Kim Hackett

Sarasota is a great place to get a cheap Ivy League education, especially if you’re past the age of fussing over credit hours and transcripts. Pierian Spring Academy has been offering adult classes taught by Harvard professors and former American diplomats for 10 years. Classes meet at Argosy and G.WIZ, and in the fall, there’s a free lecture series at the Selby Library.

For 65 bucks, you can have a month-long philosophical debate with Douglas Berggren, a former Yale professor, or hear former Washington and foreign affairs correspondent Jim McCartney talk about his experiences as a journalist covering the Vietnam War and Watergate. Looking for something artsy? There’s “Unraveling the Mystique of the Oriental Rug,” which examines how politics have historically affected rug weaving, or “Opera—Playing with Music…400 Years of Drama.”

Pierian Spring (named for the mythological Greek spring of inspiration) is one of a handful of adult education programs offered in Sarasota. It’s a little different than most in that it “offers more academic courses,” with a lot of give-and-take between students and teachers, says Robert Carlson, executive director and retired professor emeritus at the University of Vermont. “We model ourselves after Harvard’s Institute of Lifelong Learning.” As the organization celebrates its 10th anniversary, it’s adapting to the times by offering videotaped classes on the Internet, and for busy mid-lifers, custom-designed classes.

If you’ve given up on getting an invite to a Renaissance Weekend—the highly sought-after, invitation-only retreat for intellectuals, writers, and political and business leaders—Carlson says he’ll help you host your own. “We have the faculty and the expertise,” says Carlson, “We’re looking for groups of people who want to plan with us.”

Creativity and a sky-is-the-limit mentality have been hallmarks of the Pierian Spring Academy since Joel Larus, a New York University professor emeritus, created it. Larus, an expert on nuclear proliferation who sat on a commission that tried to broker peace between Pakistan and India, moved to Sarasota in the 1990s and found intellectual life here lacking. He decided to create a program in which retirees could keep their mental acumen by debating philosophy and science with some of the top minds in the country.

Finding the experts in Sarasota was the easy part; finding a place to host the classes has been a bit trickier. For five years, the program met at G.WIZ, but two years ago G.WIZ decided it needed the extra classrooms.

“We had to scramble” to find another place, says Carlson. Last year, the program met at a church and had to cut back its classes, losing many students along the way.

This year, Pierian is back at G.WIZ for half its classes, with the other half meeting at Argosy University. The winter session begins in January with 33 courses, varying from six to 12 weeks in length. Classes are small, with about 12 to 15 students. Carlson hopes to do more of the custom-designed courses. So far, he’s put together one for a Boca Grande group.

Today’s Pierian faculty includes Earl E. Pollock, a former Supreme Court clerk, who teaches a popular class on the Supreme Court, and Stan Nikkel, an author and retired professor of sociology at the University of Massachusetts who biked America’s historical trails and brings them to life in his “American Journeys” course.

Pierian’s teachers receive a nominal payment for their courses, but there are other rewards. “It’s fascinating. I have really enjoyed it,” says McCartney, a former Knight-Ridder Washington correspondent who teaches “War and Peace in the Media.” “They are interested in learning and understanding events they lived through.”

McCartney covered historic events from the Cuban Missile Crisis through the first Gulf War, retiring when the first George Bush was in the White House. His course presents the little-known political realities that took decades to come to light.

“The Cuban Missile crisis ended with a secret deal between JFK and Khrushchev to remove U.S. missiles from Turkey,” says McCartney. “The truth didn’t come out for many years. Older people that lived through it often don’t know there was a political solution, not a military solution—a very important point.”

Many Pierian teachers began as students. Carlson got hooked on Pierian by taking Doug Berggren’s class tracing the evolution of philosophy. “It helped me focus my thinking,” Carlson says. “I believe in the transformative nature of education. This is just one more place to help me create.”

For more information or to view Pierian’s video lecture, visit www.pierianspringacademy.org.