Gary Davis

Manzano High School

Class of 1970

→ Join 3011 Alumni from Manzano High School that have already claimed their alumni profiles.
→ There are 62 classes, starting with the class of 1951 all the way up to class of 2022.

GARY'S PROFILE

This is a limited view of Gary's profile, register for free or login to view all their profile information.

Gary Davis - Class of 1970 - Manzano High School

First Name	Gary
Last Name	Davis
Graduation Year	Class of 1970
Gender	Male
Current Location	Seattle, WA
Hometown	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
About Me	I graduated and received a BA from UNM in 1974 with a double major in Philosophy and Political Science. I continued with my education and received a Master’s degree in Philosophy in 1978 and worked as a counselor until 1980. In 1980, I attended law school at the Seattle University School of Law in Seattle, Washington. I graduated with my law degree in 1983. I was hired as a public defender immediately out of law school due to my internships in trial experience while I was a 2nd and 3rd year law student. I became a senior felony attorney for a 75-member law firm. I specialized in complex litigation and capital casework. I represented indigent clients who were charged with capital offenses and facing the death penalty during the last 20 years of my employment. In January of 2020, I finally retired from the Dept. of Public Defense after 38 years of service. But I wasn't ready to lay down the sword quite yet. Starting in June, 2020, I began working with the National Innocence Project representing clients to exonerate the innocent who have been wrongly convicted. I have traveled extensively to Europe, Italy, Asia, Canada and Mexico, and have had extended stays in some of these countries in order to learn more about their cultures. I have lived in Seattle since 1980 and continue to love it. I have one grown daughter who lives in Albuquerque and she has two children of her own. I am an admitted adrenalin "junkie" and love flying airplanes, bungee jumping and skiing. I started to take lessons in flying helicopters. I also work out in a gym as frequently as my work schedule will allow. Even after all these years, I still fervently believe that societal progress is born out of agitation, and that revolution is still an appropriate form of political expression. Intelligent discontent is the mainspring of civilization. Some of the things that I am passionate about: Love, sex, a passionate life, revolutionary politics and ideas, and progressive change. I believe change happens whether we like it or not. I believe the question is not whether we will have change. The question is whether we will have progress that makes a difference in people's lives. I want to make a difference in people's lives. I believe that the greatest challenge to any thinker is stating the problem in such a way that will allow a solution. Pursuing that challenge can be a full-time proposition, but not to seek that purpose prevents us from living an exemplary life. I do not tolerate racism or sexism or the economic subjugation of people. I believe these are the three biggest factors that enslave most people. I believe that we are all political animals and that the personal is political. Everything that we believe in: what we eat, how we live, how we relate to people, our personal principles, our values and bedrock morals and how we present ourselves to the world are all ultimately a political statement. When politically engaged, I believe that you need to know your audience. I believe you need to be strategic. If your core tactics and actions aren’t explicitly and strategically designed to get the desired impact on your target audience, you are not being strategic. I believe that we should ultimately work to free our heart from hatred, free our minds from worries, live more simply, give more and expect less if we are to have a happy life. I believe that it is not enough that we all know that the sun will rise each day. The continuing rotation of the earth should not be your baseline expectations of American Society. This is just being satisfied with being ignorant. And lastly, the majority of our time is now behind us and our futures are not so distant. We have arrived at this moment of time when we are beginning to see more of the horizon of our mortality. So I say make a difference in someone's life with whatever remainder of the life that you have left to experience. And while this life may not have been the party that we had hoped for at times, I believe that we might as well dance while we are still here. Just rememb...(read more)