Richard Peck has been a busy man since retiring as UNM's 15th president in 1998.
Peck's eight-year period as head of New Mexico's largest university was followed by some advisory work at two colleges in Florida and a little more than a year back at UNM teaching English courses.
Most recently, he finished his eighth book, about a subject close to his heart - golf.
Peck took time Saturday to sign All the Courses in the Kingdom: An American Plays at the Birthplace of Golf, at the UNM Bookstore.
"There are so many stories about golf, urban myths," said Peck, himself an 18 handicapper. "So many stories that have grown up around the game. Golf is so tangled in the history of Britain. I really enjoyed myself there."
The book chronicles Peck's two-month sabbatical on Scotland's east coast, known as the Kingdom of Fife, where the former president played all 43 courses in the kingdom in 42 days.
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"You don't climb Mt. Everest and only go up half way," said Peck, who was dressed for the book signing in traditional Scottish golf garb: plus-fours - called knickers in the United States - a white oxford, sweater vest and tie. "To my knowledge, I'm the only person to accomplish the feat."
The trip culminated with Peck and his wife, Donna, playing three days in the rain at the most famous course in the world - St. Andrews.
Peck said the highlight of his time was crossing the bridge over the Swilcan Burn, which meanders across the first and 18th fairways of St. Andrews' Old Course before emptying into the North Sea.
"Every great golfer in history, with the exception of Ben Hogan, has crossed that bridge," Peck said, while showing slides of his time in Scotland.
Peck came to golf by a "freak accident," when, as he was leaving Arizona State University, where he was interim president from 1989 to 1990, someone gave him a set of golf clubs.
Integrity, he said, is the game's most admirable quality.
"If you cheat at something that doesn't matter to anyone but yourself, well that's a statement on your character," Peck said.
Writing and "not playing as much golf as I'd like" have occupied Peck since leaving UNM, he said. He has been mostly hands off since retiring as president, "as a favor to Bill" Gordon, who replaced him.
"You know, being president is the easiest job in the state, because every person in the state knows how to do it," Peck said.
He said he and his wife are "rabid UNM women's basketball fans," and noted that the completion of several large construction projects have marked positive changes at the University since his departure.
"Finally the SUB is open," Peck said. "I can remember, when I came back to teach classes, having coffee in that awful tent."
The future holds plenty more writing and golf for Peck, he said. He plans to release his ninth book, Dead Pawn, a novel about theft of turquoise jewelry in New Mexico, through UNM Press in February.
