As you know, SOAR LLI stands for Society of Active Retirees Lifelong Learning Institute.  What you might not know is that someone who really puts the “active” in active retiree is Stuart Johnson.  He is a record collector, Jazz aficionado, Green Bay Packers fan, and a SOAR member.

“I’ve done one class a year, two a year, and in many cases three a year,” said Johnson.  “I’ve been doing it for 17 years and I’ve given close to 40 presentations, all of them having to do with jazz-oriented music.”

Johnson said his reason for teaching at SOAR is “because I can sit here and put on a record and listen to it by myself, but with SOAR, I can share my music with other people.”

During the SOAR Winter 2025 Term, Johnson will teach the class “Road Songs Inspired by Route 66.” The class will be presented virtually on February 11, from 10:00 to 11:30 a.m. Click here to begin registering for Winter Term.

The very first SOAR class Johnson taught was “A Great Day in Harlem” back in 2008 when SOAR was located at Wayne State University’s Oakland Center in Farmington Hills. This class was based on a photograph.

Collecting records is another one of Johnson’s activities which, in a roundabout way, led him to teach that first SOAR class.

I have a substantial record collection,” said Johnson.  “After I retired, I started collecting records. There is a record store in Royal Oak called Solo Records. I was there frequently looking for albums and other things. I started buying up other people’s collections. I have – all in all – 45s and LPs, about 6,500.

“The guy that ran Solo told me to join the Michigan Jazz Record Collectors, so I did. They had meetings twice a month, and once a month members put on a presentation, basically music on a CD or record, listening to it and discussing it.

“In 2007, a guy from the Southfield Public Library jazz and blues series was at my presentation and asked me to do it for them.  I said yes of course I’ll do that. In 2008 — a woman from Adult Learning Institute at OCC — she was at the presentation at the library; She then asked me to do a presentation at ALI, which Chuck and Barbara Sachse from SOAR were at. And they thought I would work well with SOAR, so they invited me.”

Besides teaching at SOAR and collecting records, Johnson enjoys watching sports, particularly track and football, which he became interested in when he lived in Wisconsin.  “I look at almost all kinds of sports,” Johnson said. “In high school and college, I was a track athlete – and not all that bad. Even now I will watch a track meet if it is on TV.  My favorite football team is the Green Bay Packers always. I live and die with the Packers.”

Even though Johnson has an allegiance to the Packers, music is still his main focus, and he is especially fond of certain genres.