"It's funny, though, when I talk to a man who is interested in volunteering, I tell him that he is extra special simply because he is in the minority. They really seem to like that. Male egos maybe. Whatever the appeal is, they like it."

While I was in Calgary I had the pleasure of a quick visit with WAYNE LETOURNEAU, a former literacy colleague. Born and raised in Red Deer, Wayne is a man of many talents. He went from being the chief technician for the department of nuclear medicine at a large hospital in Edmonton to setting up a literacy program for the deaf and hard of hearing at AVC in Calgary. From there he became a full-time literacy coordinator with the Basic Education Alternate Delivery (BEAD) Program at AVC, helping to institute a literacy drop-in classroom with flexible hours for full and part-time students. After a 2-year secondment to manage the Alberta Literacy Inventory Project for Advanced Education Wayne is now back at AVC as the Special Needs Student Advisor working with mobility and sensory impaired students.

I have missed Wayne's involvement in literacy - his dedication and sense of fun. Sitting together in his office I asked Wayne if he misses being involved in literacy work. "I miss some pares of it for sure," he said. "Mostly the people. I have never seen a more supportive and benevolent group, ever. I really rank them number one. Their collective willingness to share ideas, information and shoulders is unsurpassed. Even though I am rather singular in my approach to many things I enjoyed the group 'feel' as well as the encouragement and endorsement for my work from other coordinators. I always felt supported in whatever I did related to literacy."

"There are so many people in literacy that I've gotten to know that I really admire - their skills and their professionalism. They are professionals who don't come across as professionals because they are such real people. Literacy is not a movement that is just made up of do-gooders who are after quick time in the spot light. These people are professionals who are in there for the long haul."

There were very few men working in literacy at the time that Wayne was a coordinator. "There were times when I missed having some other male company around," he admitted, "but I guess because I've been working in an adult education institution for so long with many female staff members it really was never an issue for me. I just thought of my colleagues as professionals. We had to get the job done, whatever it was, and we did."

I told Wayne about the discussion I had had with other literacy workers about the "characteristics" of literacy workers and how more women than men seem to be drawn to the field. Wayne admitted that he was fortunate to have been working with an institution like AVC in that he was able to be hired full-time with a decent salary and benefits. "It would have been difficult for me to stay with it otherwise," he said honestly.

But Wayne doesn't agree that women are more prepared to take emotional risks than men. "I certainly got emotionally involved," he insisted, "especially with matching student/tutor pairs. I remember certain students, especially those whose stories moved me greatly. I remember them for just that reason. Success stories come and go - someone gets a driver's licence or goes on into adult upgrading and I think, 'That's great!' - but I don't remember those people the way I do the others."