Posted by John Ester on Oct 10, 2017
A retired professor from Clemson, John Bednar has been coming to Crystal Lake since he was seven years old.
 
John grew up in Dallas, went to a military high school in Minnesota and college at Princeton. He majored in English but was required to take two modern languages. He picked French, which he says became his mistress for more than fifty years.
 
John's career had many interesting stops, beginning with studies in France, marriage to a French girl, a doctorate in Medieval French and teaching positions at Princeton and Berkeley. He also spent five years as Vice President of Sales for Hobie Cat in Europe, then created a company that made novelty items. But he wanted to get back to the classroom and took a position as Professor of Business French at Penn State. When there was an opening at Clemson, John became Professor of Language and International Trade there. He stayed 16 years, retiring 12 years ago.
 
Activities since retirement have included a stint as Interim Director of a ballet company in Ft. Worth and the self-publication of a fictional political book originally titled "The People's President," recently revised as "The People's President in the Nation's Service." He now lives in the Carolinas but enjoys time each year at his family's place on Crystal Lake.