Emeritus Updates

David Ekerdt

Dave Ekerdt had this account of himself in ASA Footnotes (Spring 2026): 

One major task of retirement is to settle its open-endedness with purposeful uses of time. Approaching my date of retirement, I foresaw relief from workday obligations on my time, time that I soon intended to use taking better care of myself. As it happened, I retired straight into the isolation and social distancing of the early Covid pandemic. And so, I adopted a habit of daily walking as a benefit for my health and as a way to escape the house.

Each day I selected a new-to-me set of streets and walked them systematically. The area could be residential (urban, suburban) or commercial. While touring my city like this, I readily fell into sociological interpretations of what I saw. I saw social class and distinction, materially, right there in brick and mortar, in the greenery growing and overgrowing, and in the objects that might occupy a property. The people I passed on the street—I wondered who they were and what their roles in life are. Walking close to the trucks of lawn care or construction workers and feeling sheepish, I have made it a point to greet them, as much to say: I see you making a living while I have the luxury of strolling at leisure.