A woman of joy and wisdom, retired professor shares her art and philosophy with others

By Marie Saavedra, Edie Kasten

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    DES PLAINES, Illinois (WBBM) — A woman from Des Plaines, Illinois, has an interesting history and an amazingly positive outlook on life.

Her name is Madlan McKernan, but everyone just calls her Mack. She’s been everything from a physician’s assistant to a scientist and a college professor, and now she’s an artist.

“Once I was into it, it’s better than meditation. I mean, it is absolutely the best thing that I could do,” she said.

Mack has done a lot in her life; even earning a master’s degree in marine biology a PhD in botany.

“I tell everybody that I’m a flower child, and I’ve got a PhD to prove it,” she said.

Mack has come full circle, growing up in Des Plaines, and landing back there again as a professor at Oakton Community College, where she fell in love with ceramics – quite by accident.

“One of the secretaries had some pottery that she was donating to the office,” Mack said. “I said, ‘Gee, that really looks nifty.’ She said, ‘Oh, yes. I made it here. We have pottery class here.’ And I thought, ‘Okay, I like that.'”

Now that she’s retired, Mack spends many days a week in the school’s ceramics lab.

“I am here all the time. I could have my mail put here,” she said.

Mack said ceramics fits in just fine with her philosophy of life.

“I don’t need perfect. These are not perfect. I just don’t live perfect. It’s too much trouble,” she said. “If it can hold sausage and beans, I mean, this is good enough. It’ll hold water, it’s got a little decoration on there, okay, let’s go.”

Not perfect? No problem. Mack said she’s a big believer in “letting things go.”

“If something bad’s going on in your life, I mean, come on, just let it go. You don’t need to dwell on that stuff,” she said.

Making people happy is important to Mack. She’s part of the ceramics lab’s “Empty Bowls” endeavor, which uses art to feed the hungry.

“We go one day and we make as many bowls as we can,” she said. “Once they are made and processed and together, we have a sale of these empty bowls.”

The money from selling the bowls goes to local food pantries.

Asked why other peoples’ feelings are so important to her, life and art intersected for Mack.

“As often as you can be nice to somebody, that always makes their life better. If you see somebody that’s dressed up, and they look really pretty, tell them so,” she said. “When you give someone a piece of art, then you’re complimenting yourself, but you’re also complimenting them, because you’re giving something of yourself to them.”

When she’s not at the ceramics lab, Mack is at O’Hare International Airport, volunteering at the travelers’ aid desk.

“This is the best job in the world to have. Tell people where to go. So I do that, and that’s really fun. It’s definitely a fun job,” she said.

Her ceramics buddies said they love Mack’s laugh and her outlook.

“She has such a positive attitude,” Doris Dusold said. “I have never seen her say a negative thing to anybody.”

“She’s fantastic. You can ask her anything, she’ll show you anything she can,” Barbara Luker said.

Mack said it’s much easier to be nice to people than to be mean.

“That’s the way I live. I just do okay things and say nice stuff,” she said.

CBS News Chicago politely asked Mack how old she is.

“I’m not gonna say, but quiet later on, you and I, I’ll tell you, but I’m not going to tell it to the world,” she said. “I’m old enough to vote.”

What’s next for Mack? She has a trip to Costa Rica planned, sort of. She said she doesn’t make plans, she makes “fast decisions.”

Mack also said that, on Halloween, she loves to give trick-or-treaters not just candy, but ceramic bowls that she’s made. That way the kids get something they can give to their parents.

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