When I reflect upon my early years I begin to realize how fortunate I was in so many respects and then wonder how I managed to secure the career I managed to enjoy for so many years. Nearly all my early years were spent in Harper County, Kansas, which borders Oklahoma and lies 65 miles southwest of Wichita and 60 miles north of Enid. My dad, Sam, was a business man and on Sundays we would alternate going to either Wichita or Enid. Dad enjoyed looking at items related to his business and he was a creative man who would have been a very successful college student, had he not grown up during the Great Depression. Dad had a small semi-truck fleet that hauled wheat from Kansas to the Texas Gulf Coast. He also bought and sold automobiles and was the authorized dealer for Cushman Motor Scooters, Massey Harris farm equipment, Philco electronics, and Admiral home appliances. My mother, Maxine, assisted my dad by keeping the business records. We lived in a small town of 150 people, and while we did have our own schools, we did not have a public library. How did I become a college professor having grown up in a town with no library? I guess this would prove one could overcome obstacles if you just work at it and have supportive parents. My mom bought me books, a set of encyclopedias, and subscribed to magazines such as National Geographic. I also loved the old radio shows that allowed the listener to utilize their creativity more so than early television. I was also really good in sports, having earned all-state honors for basketball for all four years of my high school. In addition I was all-state in football my senior year in high school and a good enough baseball player to earn an invitation to the spring training for the New York Giants.  I loved sports and almost became a basketball coach, but I enjoyed teaching geography even more. I enjoyed seeing various facets of the environment by hiking along Bluff Creek with my brother, Richard, and my best friend, Alva. All of these ventures into the environment, plus my National Geographics, helped propel me into the field of geography.  Eventually I earned an M.A. in Geography and managed to get a job teaching at Oklahoma State as an Instructor, and after a couple of years I was told that to remain at OSU I would need a doctoral degree, so I had a visit with the Dean of Arts & Sciences and he told me that if I really wanted to pursue an Ed.D. in Geographic Education at the University of Tulsa then that is what I should do, because in my field it just might be an advantage to have a doctorate of education. I loved my program at Tulsa and became a much better teacher.

— Jerry Croft
Professor Emeritus of Geography at Oklahoma State University
Adjunct Professor of International Studies at the University of Iowa