UpDate - Vol. 14, No. 12, Page 3
November 17, 1994
26-year veteran; Prof says everything we do makes a statement

     James R. Soles, the University's first Alumni Distinguished
Professor, goes through books like other people surf through TV
channels. It's not unusual for him to read 15 or 20 volumes a week:
perhaps five novels, a few histories, biographies, studies in his own
discipline of political science-pretty much anything, in fact, that
has a beginning, a middle and an ISBN.
     "I read very rapidly," Soles says.
     Soles also writes books. He's currently working on a project
involving Delaware's Constitution.
     Of course, he teaches-twice winning the University's award for
excellence in teaching, before withdrawing his name from further
consideration.
     And from 1974 until October 1993, he was active in Democratic
politics. But, he always found time for reading.
     Two favorites tell something about the man. The first is The
Grapes of Wrath, Steinbeck's harrowing but finally optimistic story of
economic migrancy in the Depression.
     "Probably the most influential book in my life, it articulated
and formulated a number of things for me," Soles recalls. "The ending,
in particular, is one of the most powerful things I ever read."
     That conclusion, of course, depicts human kindness, dignity and
interdependence, values close to Soles' heart.
     The second, Cervantes' Don Quixote, is perhaps an unlikely
candidate for a political scientist. Yet Soles explains: "I've great
sympathy for Quixote. He lived in the world he wanted to live in, and
if they consider that insanity, well, so be it."
     Soles says he, too, believes we can live in the world we want to,
or at least something close to it. It is a faith that underlies his
commitment to the now less fashionable fields of government and
politics.
     To those who think such optimism has the delusory quality of
tilting at windmills, Soles offers a sharp reply. "The idea that
government is essentially impotent or villainous is the result of long-
running propaganda, active since at least FDR. If government doesn't
make certain decisions, who does? Do you really want drug companies
deciding what drugs are safe for you to take?"
     Soles' appreciation for Steinbeck's depiction of the 1930s is far
from abstract. He was born on a sharecropper's farm in North Carolina
in 1935. His father, a truck driver, and his mother, a homemaker,
decided that, on a farm, "you could at least survive." And, on a farm,
everyone could work. Soles fed chickens from the time he could walk,
cropped and strung tobacco from the age of 12.
     Not that he regards his boyhood work as a burden. On the
contrary, Soles considers his rural and small town upbringing a time
of great freedom, his responsibilities a rather invigorating kind of
equality. At 13, he took his first job outside the home as a grocer's
boy, and he's never been unemployed since.
     He can look back on periods working in a library, a dry
cleaner's, a theatre, a communications department, a chamber of
commerce and an engineering firm, among other places, in addition to
his stint as a Congressional adviser and his academic career.
     How Soles first moved from tobacco road to the groves of academe
is a romance in itself. In his senior year of high school, he had
applied to Florida State but, in the absence of funding, was all set
to take a position in a local supermarket. Then, his English teacher
announced an essay contest sponsored by the Civitan Club, and everyone
in the class was asked to write on the duties and privileges of
American citizenship.
     Soles composed his entry, in the form of a letter from father to
son, the night before it was due. Local judges took a liking to it and
awarded him first prize of $25.
     "Big bucks in those days," Soles remembers. At the state level,
Soles' letter also won first place. Then, miraculously, at the
national level, Soles came in third, earning the staggering sum of
$1,800. With tuition at $75 and accommodation at $90 a semester, Soles
had literally written his ticket to college.
     Small wonder he respects the written word.
     Ultimately, though, Soles' heroes tend to be not writers but
leaders. He speaks of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. with genuine
reverence. Solemn busts of Lincoln, Kennedy and FDR form an imposing
trio next to his word processor. Jefferson and Truman, though not
among the trinity, nevertheless have representation in the form of
pictures on the office wall.
     He also makes space for portraits of Washington and Madison,
replicas of Delaware's ratification of the Constitution and the Bill
of Rights and a print of the Deer Park, that "great institution,"
where Soles has been known to pass the time in spirited conversation
with colleagues and students.
     But, ask Soles to name a preeminent hero and he has no
hesitation: "My wife, Ada Leigh Soles. She is my hero in every
respect, the most moral and honest person I've encountered. I thought
she was the most impressive person I had ever met when her boyfriend
introduced us, and I've had no occasion to change my mind in the
intervening 37 years."
     Jim and Ada Leigh Soles live independent lives but share a number
of passions, notably politics and books. She recently resigned as the
senior adviser to Delaware Gov. Thomas Carper and served 12 years in
the Delaware legislature, where she was the leading advocate for the
improvement of the state's libraries. She's also the main reason Soles
looks forward to retirement.
     "I love what I do, but there are seasons in life for all things,"
the 26-year UD veteran says.
     When author Tom Clancy gave his Commencement address, Soles
thought the visiting speaker was overly gloomy. "He made getting
married and having a kid seem like taking on the burdens of the
world."
     Soles made his own speech afterward at the College of Arts and
Science convocation. It was a sprightly plea for "gusto, zest, love
and grace," and over the years, he has made similar pleas implicitly,
but very consciously, through his demeanor on the campus and during
interaction with his students. "From going to lunch, to signing a
petition," Soles says, "everything you do makes a statement."
     Although Soles has been on the job for nearly half a century, it
hasn't been all work and no play.
     He makes sure he has "a good time." He maintains a lively humor,
and he's keen to deflate the pretensions and stuffiness of
professional life.
     "Don't take yourself too seriously," he warns. "Politicians and
professors, in particular, do that. I try to enjoy a wide variety of
people because limited academic perspectives give you delusions of
wisdom. I happen to believe that wisdom is not limited to the academy
or even the formally educated."
                                                      -Steven O'Connor