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Photograph by Dai Sugano
In preparation for his next walk, Harry Cornbleet goes out exploring aromatic plants along the trail.
Happy Trails
Harry Cornbleet loves his job, but he can't ignore the great outdoors
By Mary Ann Cook
Saratogan Harry Cornbleet is a doctor and a docent, and people who know him in one station are always thoroughly surprised to find him in the other. But that's the way he wants it. Colleagues and staff members at the San Jose-Good Samaritan Medical Group, a private, multi-specialist group, do a double-take when they see him leading a hike as part of the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District program.
"My work is important to me, but I'd feel limited if my entire identity was tied up in what I do for a living," Cornbleet says.
OK. So he's a doctor by profession--an internist at the facility at Leigh and Foxworthy avenues in San Jose--with nature study as a hobby--in fact, a lifelong fascination. But Cornbleet's dedication to these separate interests goes beyond the usual idea of pursuing a hobby.
For one thing, he works a four-day week. "I know I could earn more money, but quality of life is important to me. I directed the clinic for a year, besides my regular practice, and I marvel now how I did it all."
Cornbleet was chairman of the Quality Assurance Program for six years for the San Jose Medical Group, before the merger with Good Samaritan. And he was on call for several area hospitals for 16 years, but no longer. Since he doesn't have to answer to emergency or weekend duty, life is a lot more manageable--and meaningful--these days.
Gives him time to explore all the myriad of curiosities in the outdoor world. Indeed, "curious" is the first characteristic Cornbleet mentions when asked to describe himself. "I love to learn and I love to teach."
So it's no wonder that hikers on the walks that he leads, when asked later for written comments, term him a treasure, say his was the best program they've experienced and that he should be paid. He was named Decent Docent for 1998-99, the top honor awarded one docent each year by the MROSD.
The award consists of a certificate and a rock with the words "Decent Docent" displayed thereon. The open space district is nothing if not understated. Cornbleet can keep the certificate, with the participants' comments inscribed on it, but he had to give up the rock to his Decent Docent successor, Rick Leonard of San Jose, last month.
One gets the feeling Cornbleet is equally as caring and concerned about his hikers as he is about his patients. Nature study is a lifelong love. "It's an old interest that never went away," he says.
After moving to this area in 1978, he started exploring Fremont Older Preserve and "it was like being a kid again. I had leaf and bug collections as a youngster and I originally wanted to be a botanist." As an undergrad, his major was biology.
Always avid and painstakingly thorough about his pursuits, he started hiking with the Audubon Society, the Sierra Club and MROSD. Then, about four years ago, he decided, now that he had more free time, to train to be a docent, picking up the fascination that had been put on hold while he was in medical training and establishing a practice.
He had read about the 10-week training session in a park brochure and a new session was just about to start. Weekly field trips are part of the training and he found it was right up his alley. "It was a lot of fun," he enthuses. His wife, Joanne, offered strong encouragement.
She's a clinical pathologist at Stanford University and they met at a get-acquainted dance at Washington University in St. Louis. The dance was sponsored by the Hillel Foundation, a Jewish organization for young people.
They were both juniors in college at the time and they were married when they were in their second year of medical school at the University of Missouri in Columbia. They have a 27-year-old daughter, Jenny, who is a teacher at an inner-city high school in Chicago. They recently celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary.
Photograph by Dai Sugano
Harry Cornbleet, M.D., has specialized in internal medicine for 21 years, but he wouldn't want his work to be his whole life.
Meanwhile, back in Missouri, Cornbleet served his internship and residency at Jewish and City hospitals in St. Louis. Then it was time for a new destination. "We don't have to live in snow and sleet," offered Joanne, who is from San Antonio.
Earlier, they had taken a camping trip through the West. "It was the first time either of us had seen any mountains bigger than the Ozarks," Cornbleet says. This trip pretty well convinced them they wanted to live in California. They would settle wherever the first one to land a job found work, they agreed.
Joanne was that person. She was offered a position at a pathology lab in San Diego. Harry wasn't as quick to find something open in his field, so he joined the Navy for a three-year stretch. After the navy stint was finished it was time for another job search.
This time there was an opening in San Jose--the same position he holds today. "We thought San Jose was a good place to land. What we remembered about San Jose [from a previous camping trip] was Big Basin." Not exactly the way most people remember San Jose, they soon realized. However, Joanne received an offer from Stanford in short order and they settled in Saratoga in 1978.
His love of learning is evident in everything Cornbleet discusses. Besides nature docenting, he is part of the Outreach Program of Judah Magnes, a Jewish center in Berkeley. In that position, he's much like a docent, except that he's called a presenter.
Here again, he plows enthusiastically into research. Presenters offer slide shows on various topics at the request of Jewish clubs and centers throughout the Peninsula. The talks and slides are already packaged, but, being dedicated to learning more, Cornbleet adds the results of his own research to each presentation.
The Judah center calls itself "the museum that comes to you." The topic titles he has covered include "Against the Evil Eye: Magic and Folk Beliefs in Jewish Tradition"; "Passover Haggadah: A Reflection of the Jewish Experience," about freedom from oppression; and "They Deserve a Medal," biographies of famous Jewish/Americans.
Cornbleet has been a presenter for these programs for the past six months. "If you think I'm smart, you should meet Joanne," he says about his wife's many honors. She reaped every academic honor given out, he says--Phi Beta Kappa, Mortar Board, etc. He himself was valedictorian of his class of 550 at Normandy High School in St. Louis County.
His family has followed him to California and includes his parents--Zale and Rose, who live in Saratoga--and two sisters. His dad is a retired pharmacist and his sisters are Joan Meyberg, who works for Planned Parenthood in San Jose, and Lois Hammer, who lives in Rockland and is with Hewlett-Packard.
With fewer work hours than his wife, Cornbleet does most of the cooking. "I like it. I've taken cooking classes at the Home Chef at Westgate, but I don't think I have any particular specialties," he says. "We eat fish and vegetables mainly."
Photograph by Dai Sugano
Harry Cornbleet definitely adheres to the philosophy that life should not be all work and no play.
The most difficult and challenging period of his life was his internship and residency. "In those days you were 36 hours on and 12 hours off. Since you're new at it, you're lacking in experience and therefore your confidence level is shaky. I'm probably more introspective than most, maybe don't come across as aggressive enough," he says.
When asked if there have been any failures in his life he says, "I was able to make something constructive out of anything that might have been considered a failure." Not winning a residency at Jewish Hospital for his second year meant he was forced to practice at City Hospital. But he figures he learned more valuable lessons, had wider experiences that stood him in good stead, than he would have at the more affluent Jewish hospital.
By the same token, when his wife was the first to land a job, he enlisted in the Navy, another experience he hadn't expected, but that he found served him well in the long haul.
What with the balance he's evidently achieved in his life, is there anything he'd like to do that he hasn't tackled yet? "Well, there's Filoli," he says. "There's Henry Coe Park in Morgan Hill. I think they have docents. I'd like to do both of those, share any special knowledge I have.
"I like to learn and share what I learn with others," he continues. The sharing equally as important as the learning he implies. "I'd like to do more genealogy work. When anyone wants to know anything about the family, they ask me and I really haven't done much research."
His next MROSD assignment is set for July 18 at Skyline Ridge, where he'll lead a hike, along with docent Alex Maksymowicz, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., called "Follow Your Nose: On the Trail of Aromatic Plants." The talk will cover how these plants were used by Native Americans and their importance to other cultures.
Cornbleet will do a pre-hike to discover "what's growing there and what I'm going to be talking about." Preparing for a hike can take quite a few hours over several weeks, depending on how well versed he is already in the layout and the wonders therein.
"You learn from other docents; we learn from each other," he says. Hikes are conducted in twos, since someone has to be the "sweep," bringing up the rear. About 15 to 20 people show up for most hikes, although sometimes the number climbs higher and sometimes there are only a handful.
No matter the number of people, the number of natural wonders is inestimable. At least as seen through the eyes of someone as enthusiastic and enriching as Dr. Harry Cornbleet.
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Saratoga, California Since 1975
