Ken Scambray Born in 1945 and a professor at ULV since 1981, Ken Scambray, professor of English, doesn’t look nor act his age. In his clean office that only gets tidier throughout the interview, “so we can think,” he said, he leans back in his chair, a fit, athletic frame described by a form-fitting black T-shirt. This frame, fruit of an active lifestyle, is necessary, he said, to maintain that active lifestyle. In addition to biking, Scambray also plays “full court, in your face” basketball, which wouldn’t be possible if he did not work out regularly. “At my age, you can’t play basketball without weight training,” said the Fresno State alumnus, who doesn’t need to weigh himself to know if he’s out of shape. He just knows. Not only is weight training a necessity to staying in shape, it also helps Scambray maintain his sanity after a long day at school. “I’ve been sitting here for five hours,” he said, “then I have class at 2 (p.m.) and at 4:30 (p.m.), I’ll be in the gym. When I’m not sitting in a chair, then it’s absolutely imperative that I go out and do something physical.” This zest and need for activity was bred in Scambray from elementary school, he said. Growing up, he played baseball and basketball year-round, a fact that was made possible by the blessing of growing up west of the Mississippi, he said. “We could be out on the playing field 12 months of the year,” he said. “That’s part of the California experience.” And, while raising his children, he did what he could to transfer his love on, coaching them as they grew up, aided by his skill as a teacher, he said. He even spearheaded the start of the National Junior Basketball Association 12 years ago, a league that continues today. “The great enjoyment was, I’m in it for it to be a good experience for the children,” he said. Now that his coaching days are over, in addition to playing basketball and weight training, Scambray bikes nearly every weekend at his beach house in San Clemente. Sitting next to a state park, the beach house offers Scambray opportunities on numerous roads, he said. Depending on his conditioning, he can ride hills, open farmland and sometimes, if the tide is low, he’ll ride on the wet sand. One of his favorite rides involves the San Mateo Creek, which is the recent recipient of replanted native plants. “It’s one of the most inspiring sights to see this kind of effort and money put into the restoration of an area that was destroyed,” he said. “Now, you’d never guess it was planted. It’s truly amazing and it’s so exciting.” But all this conditioning, even if it does satisfy Scambray’s innate need for activity, will always remain ultimately necessary for a food-lover to remain just that. “You’ve got to pay the price,” he said. Scambray admits that one of his top passions, along with athletics, remains eating, cooking and drinking. Good wine and food go together, he said. But Scambray doesn’t enjoy entertaining, he simply likes cooking for his family and his wife. “It’s easier cooking for two than it is for six, than it is for eight,” he said. “When I sit down for dinner, it has to be a prepared meal.” Generally, the meals he prepares are Italian or Mediterranean, simply because that’s the way his kitchen is stocked and, “That’s what I know,” he said. And Scambray is a cooking purist: “Cooking is: you open the refrigerator and you cook,” he said. “It’s not spending three hours shopping.” His cupboards actually boast a hearty amount of Italian ingredients, bought both here and in Italy on his yearly trips, which he calls “a passion.” During the annual trip each January, on which Scambray accompanies groups of students, he ventures to the central market in Florence to pick up, among other things, the special olive oils “that are just crushed,” he said. “My cupboards are filled with that stuff,” he said. THE PROFESSOR Scambray enjoys students that have had a head start. “Those students that have read a lot and that can write out of high school,” he said. “When I say write, they have to be able to think critically and organize their thoughts. It’s that simple.” As for his course content, Scambray enjoys making it contextual. “My tendency is to talk about the literature in the broadest possible terms,” he said. “I talk about personal experiences in contemporary life.” If it’s a novel about the Vietnam War, Scambray will talk about his experiences during the war. If it’s about the Dust Bowl of the 1930s in California, “we talk about contemporary California,” he said. “Students find that very interesting,” he said. “We’re not studying books in the abstract.” RETURN TO FACULTY LISTmailto:scambray@ulv.edu?subject=HELLOHome.htmlshapeimage_1_link_1
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