A Ph.D.'s Reverie

A Ph.D.'s Reverie presents a series of imagined vignettes from the true story of Francis "Frank" Gevrier Guittard, a game young scholar of limited means who, encouraged by his parents to leave home for Texas during hard times, struggled to achieve his life's central goal of a college education. Then in later life labored to earn a Ph.D. while separated from wife and children.

The reverie passes through a number of his feelings including homesickness and isolation, fear and anxiety, as well as destiny, adventure, excitement and challenge, and then finally through an unresolved sense of regret and loss, all of which ultimately dissolve into elation and satisfaction coming from high achievement and the expectation of going home to family.

Nicely written and the illustrations are amazing. John S. Wilson, Interim Dean of University Libraries, Baylor University

How beautiful! I love all the rich detail evocative of the time period... Andrea Turpin, Professor of History, Baylor University

Compelling... T. Michael Parrish, Linden G. Bowers Professor of American History, Baylor University, author of Brothers in Gray and other volumes

I have no idea how you were able to capture all of the history, intrigue and emotion in this poem-that normally would take a novel! Rose Youngblood, Assistant Vice President for Development and University Initiatives, University of Texas at Arlington

It was haunting at times...I felt the struggles and pain [Frank] must have felt... Thomas DeShong, Guittard History Fellow, Project Archivist, Baylor University

Quite a story... Barry Hankins, Chair, Baylor University History Department, author of Jesus and Gin: Evangelicals, the Roaring Twenties, and Today's Culture Wars, and other volumes

I enjoyed this very much. It is such a tender-hearted look at your grandfather... Mike Magers, CPA, History Blogger

A wonderful remembrance, full of history, love, heartfelt loss, accomplishment, and a life well lived... Fred Landry, Vice President of Development, Centenary College of Louisiana

[The theme of the poem I like the best]: the risk that the young man takes to leave home and start over; the sense of homesickness that he must leave for an indefinite amount of time, perhaps not to return before those he loves are lost and with that the isolation and lack of communication available to him at the time... Elizabeth Dell, Senior Lecturer, English Department, Baylor University

Charles Francis Guittard is one of five grandchildren of Ohio native Francis Gevrier Guittard and Texas native Mamie Welhausen Guittard. He is a 1964 graduate of Baylor University in Waco, majoring in English and philosophy. Retired from law practice, he is working on a life & times of his grandfather begun in 1978 after reading his grandfather's letters. Charles lives in Dallas, Texas with his wife Pat and their dog Maggie. He and Pat have three children and four grandchildren. Their primary interests currently are their children and grandchildren and their alma maters Baylor and Centenary College of Louisiana, Shreveport, Louisiana. His poem was featured at Baylor's 2017 House of Poetry.
>Grace Elizabeth Daniel is the daughter of James and Carol Daniel, the 8th of 13 adopted children. With their love and support she is a currently a Baylor senior undergraduate pursuing a degree in both French and Painting. Along with being a member of Baylor's National Collegiate Honor Society and Baylor French Honor Society, she still finds time to paint and create the art that she loves. Her silver gelatin print "Self Portrait" was chosen for the Baylor Student Art Exhibit in 2016, and her oil painting "Self" was displayed in Baylor's 2017 Student Art Exhibit. She also participated in the Baylor Print Show in both those years as well. In the future she hopes to continue making illustrations