Notable Aros

 

Jim is an American who considers himself a 'jack of all trades' and master of some. He learned cabinetry from his father, sewing in seventh grade, electronics from cousin Dave at age 12, acetylene and arc welding while building the hot rod in high school, glass blowing as an undergrad, and pipe organ building in Germany.

 

He studied chemistry, forestry, and economics but never worked in these fields. He rode his motorcycle 17,000 miles through central Africa and built 20 pipe organs before settling on software design as a remunerative occupation at age 45.

 

Sometime in late 1965, while he was in a graduate chemistry program at University of Washington, he was getting too heavily involved with a girlfriend that he clearly did not want to marry and had no idea how to break it off. An opportunity to escape from her came when he applied and got selected for the Peace Corps Volunteers program in Africa. Destination: Nigeria.

 

So he bailed out of graduate school, drove his car and belongings to his parents house in California and started on an adventure!

 

Watch out for full details of Jim Ludden’s adventure as a Peace Corps Volunteer in faraway ancient town of Arochukwu, Nigeria on this page