Dear Colleagues, Friends and Family of Jay Zimmermann,

It is with deep sadness that I am writing to tell you that Jay Zimmermann has died after a long and difficult battle with cancer. I want to take this opportunity to thank all of you for providing my father the opportunity to be not only a professor of English and communication, which he loved, but more importantly to be a lifelong learner.

In his early years, he often hosted the English Department “salon” at our house just around the corner from the college. Passionate conversations went on late into the night regarding the existentialist’s search for meaning, Molly’s speech, writing, waiting, friends and lovers, Shakespeare’s relevance – was Tolstoy right? – and everything else related to life, literature and love.

Later as the culture began to embrace the self-actualization movement, Jay embarked on a journey of self-discovery that became his life’s quest. And while he never claimed to find the answer, he relished the quest and passionately pursued knowledge of mind, body & soul to bring him the wisdom to live a meaningful life.

In the classroom, on the golf course or on the dance floor, Jay always strove for excellence and painstakingly charted his progress, again, not because he expected perfection, but because he knew it was the pursuit and reflection that allowed progress. Orange Coast offered him the opportunity to grow as a professional and to establish, with Tom Garrison, one of his proudest achievements, the Teach3 Program. Why teach, how to teach, the nature of service - these were the questions he strove to explore and in the process to prepare the next generation of educators…obsession might best describe his relationship with golf and dancing.

The list of achievements and passions could go on. My purpose however is to express gratitude. On behalf his daughter Megan, and his former wife Laurie, I want to thank you for being an ongoing source of inspiration for his life’s journey.

Sincerely, Lisa McClellan (nee Zimmermann)