By Nicole DeLapp
The Scene staff
Charles Pointer has led a particularly interesting life, and he attributes much of his success to St. Louis Community College.
Pointer, 71, of St. Louis, was a Forest Park student who graduated in 1971. He went on to earn five more degrees and work as a teacher, journalist, counselor and author.
“It was a whole different scene on this campus,” he said on a recent visit.
Pointer enrolled in 1969 with what was then called the Junior College District of St. Louis. The Forest Park campus had opened two years earlier, so everything was new.
The campus had elevators from the beginning, but most people used stairs, according to Pointer.
“We had long green tables,” he said of the cafeteria. “But it mostly looks the same.”
Pointer took many classes that are still offered today, including humanities, social sciences and math. He also studied figure drawing on the Meramec campus.
“I really enjoyed my English professors,” he said. “I still remember the papers they had me write.”
Judo and choir
While at Forest Park, Pointer joined the judo team and choir. He had taken a judo class because his two choices were judo and swimming for a required physical education credit.
“Well, I knew I wasn’t getting in that pool,” he said. “So I took judo classes because the thought of learning how to throw people seemed fun.”
Judo instructor and coach Bill Laud also worked as a St. Louis police officer.
“Sensei Laud” made a significant impact on Pointer because he helped him discover his passion for martial arts. After two years, Pointer was promoted to a brown belt.
One significant event during Pointer’s time on campus was a civil rights protest held on the quad during the Vietnam War.
“The students were trying to tear down the flag,” he said. “Campus police, and the president came out and stopped them.”
Teacher and author
After graduating from STLCC, Pointer earned a bachelor’s degree in secondary education, with a focus on social studies and English, and a master’s in counseling at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.
Pointer taught at several St. Louis high schools before returning to college, studying journalism at Washington University and landing an internship with KMOX radio and TV, now called KMOV.
“They had me doing interviews,” Pointer said. “I would interview award winners, and we had a lot of fun over there.”
Pointer later became a freelance writer and counselor with St. Louis Job Corps, earned a criminal justice degree at University of Missouri and more recently spent seven years as a security guard.
Pointer self-published his first book, “The Making of a Black Belt Karate Champion,” in 2012. It was based on his experiences with youths in a Job Corps martial-arts program.
“It’s all about camaraderie and encouraging each other,” he said.
That was followed by two other books, “The Autobiography of Charles Henry Pointer: His Life His Legacy” in 2013 and “A Time to Remember” in 2016.
“A Time to Remember” is a novel with elements of romance and suspense, set in the 1960s. Pointer exhibited it at the legendary Frankfurt Book Fair in Germany.
Transplant and lawsuits
Pointer is divorced with three children, son Charles Jr. and daughters Kalah and Benica.
Pointer’s life hasn’t always been easy. He spent six years on dialysis before undergoing a kidney transplant last year.
According to Pointer, his health problems have led him to file lawsuits against a government agency and private company that deemed him unable to work. He represented himself, using his fifth degree, an associate’s in paralegal studies from STLCC.
“I’ve had some hardship, but I didn’t let it stop me from doing what I really wanted to do,” he said.
Today, Pointer works part time for a cleaning service. His main hobby is art. He has created an estimated 200 paintings, some focused on the civil rights movement.
Pointer also spends time promoting his books.
A recent incident got him to thinking about their potential for impacting readers. He was waiting for a medical appointment at Barnes-Jewish Hospital when a woman overheard a conversation about his writing and approached him.
“She said, ‘I read (“The Making of a Black Belt Karate Champion”), and it inspired me to enroll at Forest Park community college,’” Pointer said. “I felt really good about that.”