About Lee Gabor

When people asked me to tell them something about myself, I always say, there is too much to tell. I have been a "go-getter" since early childhood and love to stay extremely busy. My projects are always more important to me than biographical information, but for those who want to know the bio, I'm including some info on this page.

I have been honored to receive various awards for activities over the years. Information is available here. 

People sometimes tell me they are surprised at all my talents. I try to explain my opinion about this. I think most humans are given many more talents than they know. However, rather than trying what seems new to them, they continue with the same limitations they've always had.

Some of us are different and I'm in that group. We try new things. We have the attitude that the first time we do something, it probably will be a mess. But, the more we do it, the better we get. Finally, we're pretty adept at that new ability. We see life as full of potential rather than full of limitations.

I don't believe we are limited or that talents are given to only "special people." I believe all of us have lots of potentials. Therefore, I suggest everyone "go for it" and "follow that dream." And, please don't get discouraged with your first attempt. We all make mistakes and messes. Winners simply keep trying. Losers give up.

Certainly, some people exhibit enormous talent for a specific activity. That is beautiful. But, isn't it also beautiful to exhibit a little bit of that? I think so and I have always tried to instill in others the "try it, practice it, and enjoy it" state of mind.

Like most children, I was presented with many obstacles and "don't do that." I simply didn't accept those blockages.  I believe God meant for me to use my brain and body to learn as much as I can and then take that knowledge and experience to help make Life better. 

Of course, you are free to choose for yourself how you will live your life. Following is a little about my years here.

Birth and Early Years

I was born in Montgomery , Alabama on March 1, 1946. We lived for a short time in Montgomery, then moved to Augusta, Georgia. After only a year there, our family moved to Atlanta and I grew up in that beautiful city. I think I was a year old in this photo.

I attended Grant Park Elementary School from Kindergarten through 7th grade, Roosevelt High school from 8th through 11th grades, and graduated from Southwest DeKalb High School in May, 1964. We didn't have middle or junior high schools in the Atlanta School District. This is my senior photo.

I participated in lots of during-school and after-school activities and clubs as well as activities at church. My passions during those school years were reading, writing, music, and art. When I was 12, my mom died and I began helping my dad in his work and managing the house duties. Through all this, I became what is known as a "workaholic" and I am that to this day. I really enjoy working and striving to do my very best at everything I try. 

Teachers were very important to me. I had a one or two who were really awful, but most were wonderful. There were a few who were truly spectacular. What made those so great? They took a big interest in ME and in what I liked to do.

One of those was Mr. Jim Edwards, my English teacher at Roosevelt High School . When he learned of my interest in becoming a newspaper reporter, he took me to an Atlanta Press Club luncheon so that I could meet my idol, Jack Nelson. Mr. Nelson was a newspaper reporter for The Atlanta Constitution-Journal and had won the Pulitzer Prize (the best prize for journalism). This was very encouraging to my interest in becoming a reporter.  That luncheon was in 1963 and I still have the autographed photo from Mr. Nelson. 

During my Senior year of High School, I started a part-time printing business, which continued until 1995. I find the written word and pictures as being so important in our lives. By paying attention to how many pages are on this website, you can verify that I really believe in sharing info in writing. Information gives us power.

Although I was in a number of school activities, most of my efforts were church oriented. We sold donuts and peanut brittle to raise monies. I loved helping with the construction of the church, not that I could do much, but building things was very interesting to me and, to this day, I enjoy doing that. 

I played piano and organ for church services and taught a Sunday School class, using puppets often to get across a point. I also set up the church library. During various years of my youth, I sang on a radio program in Atlanta.

It was a great pleasure to help with the planning and production of wedding events at the church. This experience grew into a profession for me as an adult. When I opened the talent agency and began booking musicians for wedding events, often I was asked questions about planning the ceremony and reception. This eventually evolved into our establishing an event planning subsidiary of the agency.

At our church, I played organ for many funerals and those were always sad times.

My dad owned and operated a bookstore and I enjoyed helping there. 

My  mother was a lovely and gentle soul. She became a school teacher and taught with the Atlanta district. As mentioned, she died when I was 12 and I was fortunate enough to have a wonderful step-mother come into our family during my 15th year. The year my mom died I began to study Astrology and to realize my destiny lay in this ancient science and art. For information on that "other side" of my life click here.

College and singing with a band

I started college in the Atlanta area. It was fun to be in the opening class of the new DeKalb Junior College in Clarkston, GA. I remember the many hours of studying and playing hearts with some great buddies.

Also, a few of us had a band and I was the singer. It was quite an adventure.

From DeKalb Junior College (now called Perimeter College), I transferred to Georgia State in downtown Atlanta and began my journalism studies. Those were great days. I had a fabulous experience of flying from Atlanta to Augusta on a small airplane with a reporter from local television stations and the newspaper. I also learned in J-School class that eye-witness accounts are pretty meaningless. Many people just don't see the reality - they see according to their biases.

When my step-mother became ill, the family insisted I go out-of-state to college. I attended Evangel College in Springfield , Missouri for my junior year. Following that, I married and began a family.

Family

I won't discuss family, since that is a private matter.  Suffice it to say, I married and had children and now have grandchildren and a great granddaughter.  

Newspaper Reporter

In 1968, I went to work at the La Porte Herald-Argus, a daily. La Porte is near Chicago.

Naturally, my first assignment was writing obituaries, but I quickly moved into writing political news, features, general news, and covering the police and fire beat when that reporter went on vacation. I wrote a weekly business and construction column and wrote and edited a weekly education page.

This was during the Viet Nam War and I still remember that very well. I wanted to be a foreign correspondent and go to Viet Nam to cover the war. I even had a duffle bag packed and stored in my closet so I could board a plane in a minute. I also had children that I loved very much and there was no way I would leave them to cover a war. So I stayed at the daily newspaper. When I wrote a novel in 2008, my main female character was a correspondent in the Vietnam War.

This photo appeared in the Herald-Argus. These are students from the local high schools who worked with me on the education page. I'm the female sitting on the floor - before my days of being a blonde.

I also covered lots of political events, which I found very exciting. Once in awhile, the paper let me write feature articles, most of which I came up with myself. That is called "having a nose for news." The best one, in my opinion, was a 6-article series on The Indiana State Prison in Michigan City, IN. I was able to tour the prison and I really hated the sound of those big metal doors slamming. I felt bad for the men who were incarcerated there and to this day, I believe most of them could have had a better life if they had managed better in their early years in school. 

I was just starting to write editorials when I left the newspaper business.  I also was doing a little radio news broadcasting at a local station and hosted a television interview show in South Bend, IN (the location of Notre Dame University). The first person I interviewed was Bill Ruckelshaus, who was the very first head of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). 

This is a collage of a few of the various dignitaries I interviewed for the paper. You can click on it to see a larger graphic.

Returning to College

I loved being a reporter and never minded all the hours required to truly cover local news for a daily. Journalism was very, very exciting, but also very demanding of my time. I hardly every saw my children and that wasn't fair to them. I felt the number of hours I worked kept me from being a good mother. Change was necessary.

In 1971, I had one year of college left and really wanted to earn a degree. After four years as a reporter, a college in South Dakota (where my brother-in-law was a professor) offered me scholarships, grants, and loans to finish my degree. Also, The Business & Professional Women's Club of La Porte, Indiana gave me a scholarship. A photo of the club's President handing me the scholarship check is on the collage above.

When I arrived at Huron College, I quickly learned I could not continue in journalism and the only degree I could earn and finish in a year was in Elementary Education. I changed degree programs and earned that BA in education (May, 1972). Also, I obtained state teacher certification. I never expected to use the degree, but was very thankful to have completed those studies. Later in my life (in 2002), God wanted me to experience classroom teaching. The degree and certification came in handy.

Musician and Entertainer

As I neared graduation from college, my thoughts were with how to best combine a career with motherhood. I decided that being self-employed would work best for us. I decided to work full-time as an entertainer and musician, playing piano and singing for events, in hotel lobbies, restaurants, and in piano bars. Since I worked at night, I had all day to spend with the children.

A number of photos of me as an entertainer are available on the webpage about my Music or click here.  

 As it turned out, many years of my adult life were spent associated with the entertainment industry.

Talent Agent Owner and Performing Arts Academy

Because I am so detailed oriented, musicians I knew asked me to help them find work. This resulted in my starting a talent agency and, a little later, performing arts classes. The agency expanded into placing more types of service personnel. It wasn't long before I opened related businesses to better help our talents. These included a public relations firm, a printing company, and a mail-order retail company. We had talents working "on the road" (this was before the Internet) and they often needed promo photos and other items for their gigs.

Information on the Agency can be found on other pages at this website. I have included a lit of the many divisions of the agency so that people interested in opening this type of business can grasp how venues can be set up so that purchasers contract for the most effective entertainment for their events. 

Lobbying and Politics 

Newspaper reporters must stay absolutely objective. During my years in journalism, I avoided getting involved in politics other than voting in elections. However, as soon as I left that business, I made a point of returning to political involvement (I had been active as a teen). I felt it important to write and mail letters and make telephone calls, regardless of what I was doing professionally.

In the early 1970s, I lobbied the U. S. Congress to pass a law requiring that half of what Americans bought would be manufactured in the U.S. Obviously, those of use promoting balance didn't have much success. So, now we have an "information" based country instead of healthy "manufacturing" base. I continue to think allowing our manufacturing to dissipate has been a MAJOR mistake. I think we should be balanced 50-50 with the rest of the world.

This photo was taken in Madison, Wisconsin (1974, I think). I lobbied and worked with Jim Boullion & Associates and I ran for Dane County Clerk (came in 2nd or 3rd - don't remember now).

Technical Writer, Administrative Assistant, and Project Manager 

In 1995, I gave all the talents we booked through the agency a one-year notice and then closed the agency and academy. I left performing in order to better facilitate other aspects of my life. From 1995 until the summer of 2002, I worked contracts so that I could manage an often crazy schedule. During that summer, I did a lot of work with the international charity, Children United.

Among the clients with whom I contracted were:

Arrow Industries, Inc. (division of ConAgra)

Babich & Associates, Inc.

Bowie-Sims-Prange, Inc.

Carstens Yee & Calhoun, Attorneys At Law

Corporate Documentation & Training, Inc.

Fisk & Fielder, Attorneys At Law

Jenkens & Gilchrist, Attorneys At Law

OSuzanna! Designs

SBC Communications, Inc.

ST Microelectronics, Inc.

Sabre, Inc.  

Sun Microsystems, Inc.

Wallpapers To Go, Inc.

and others

My dad died in Atlanta in 2000. I will always appreciate the good people in Georgia who were so supportive of him. As I went through his items, I was surprised to learn how deeply he cared about genealogy. I knew it was "an interest" and I had heard all his comments over my life regarding our ancestry. However, I didn't realize to what depth he was interested. After returning to Dallas, I became much more involved in putting together genealogical information.

In late August and early September, 2001, I had the wonderful opportunity to travel to historic cities in the south. I will always remember and appreciate the vacation and, especially, the chance to stay at the Zero Water Inn on the bay in Charleston, South Carolina. From the 3rd floor balcony/porch in our suite, I could sit and rock while viewing Fort Sumter, where the Civil War (or, as Southerners often say, "War for Southern Independence") started. So many, many people died in that conflict. I believe slavery is wrong. At the same time, I honor all the people who died for what they believed was right. Sacrifices were made by people on both sides. The war ended. The nation stood whole. For me, I believe America is the greatest nation on earth. The laws aren't perfect. We can get involved and try to change them. I am opinionated and say to people that don't like our country and the laws, "Get involved and change them or leave. We'll somehow muddle through without you! In other words, please quit just griping! Millions have people have made the ultimate sacrifice to provide us with this great, great place to live."

Dallas ISD 

In late spring of 2002, God picked me up from working independent contracts and placed me in Dallas ISD. How did this happen? I received emails from the MoonLady listserve in Dallas and one day a message came requesting school supplies for kids in a school in the Pleasant Grove section of the city. I talked to the sender by telephone in order to let her know I had closed a business and had many items still in storage. We discussed things needed and then she said, "What we need most is a 6th grade teacher." I laughed and said, "My college degree is in Education, but I'm not interested in teaching." She insisted I speak to the principal of the school.

As it turned out, in the fall of 2002 I was teaching a 6th grade class. I knew teaching wasn't the right place for me. I'm a very strict, "by the book" type of person and today's young people aren't usually comfortable with routines and regulations. Every vocational test I had taken as a teenager and young adult had reported teaching as my LAST AND AT THE BOTTOM career choice. Law was always at the top and journalism was second. I love law and order and I love the newspaper and mass media businesses. 

I still don't quite understand how I made it through the six years with DISD. They were difficult for me, but I'm a workaholic, so put in as many hours as I could stay awake each week to learn more, do more, care more, etc. After four years as a classroom teacher, I became Academic Coordinator for two years (first at Silberstein Elementary School and then at Gonlzalez Elementary School). During the year as AC at Silberstein, I enrolled at UT-Arlington and earned a Master Degree in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies. For list of Texas Education Agency certifications, click here.

During 2002 through 2008, I also did quite a bit of public speaking and was involved in numerous projects. I think working to make life better is always a privilege.

The educations pages on this website have lots of information about my experiences with the district. In the spring of 2008, I resigned from the district in order to concentrate on professional Astrology. Also, I thought I could be more effective for positive changes by lobbying from outside employment with a school district.  

A bio of me is available that offers more information about Astrology. it also contains information on some of the techniques I used to keep my students in school, at least through high school graduation. For the PDF, please click here. Also, please note I use a Doing Business As (DBA) of Lee masters for the Astrology.

HISTORY AND GENEALOGY

History is one of my favorite subjects and genealogy is strongly related to the stories of humans on our planet. I'm very proud that my maternal and paternal ancestors came to America right after Jamestown was founded. Immediately, they became involved in government. Richard Bennett served as the Governor of Virginia and Maryland. John Langston was a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses and participated in Bacon's Rebellion in 1676, the first time colonists rebelled against the British Monarch and one hundred years before the American Revolution of 1776. The colonists were unsuccessful in that first venture. Nathaniel Bacon was hanged and John Langston lost his seat in the House of Burgesses. His sword was taken from him - apparently a big deal back then.

It is obvious to me I carry some of those same genes of rebellion against behavior that is tyrannical.

My paternal grandmother was half Cherokee. Her maiden name was Hill and we hit a dead end when we try to find genealogical information on that line. However, we do have linage info on all the others, some back many centuries. I'm very proud that ancestors on both sides of my family fought in the American Revolution and the other wars of our history.

MORE

For information on issues in which I'm involved, click here.

This page describes some of the memberships I currently hold and have had in the past.

RECENT

In November, 2008, I moved to Ellis County to be near my son, who owns a business between Palmer and Ennis. I've enjoyed becoming a Master Gardener (2008 through December, 2010) and have served for a short time as Secretary for the Palmer Lions Club (09-10 fiscal year). In 2010, I became Certified as a Master Composter.

I continue to be interested and involved in historic preservation.

I wrote and finished editing a novel (EBook - "Love Never Dies" - quotes used instead of underline, since underlines are typically links on Internet pages). It is available for purchase at the Astrology website.

While this may seem like a lot of information to you, it is but a small bit of my life. All my days have been full and I am very thankful for the good health and the abilities God has blessed me with. I love staying busy. I love helping people. I love learning. Someday, when I face God, I don't want to offer excuses. Instead, I want to say, "I always did my best!"