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Wilder, looking to incorporate personal values into politics
Ian Wilder is a young man who may not know where life will take him but is positive about how he wants to get there. The Amityville resident, who was raised and schooled in Copiague has developed a strong sense of priorities that not only govern his life but enrich it. Some would call him a new-age flower child or a tree hugger, but Wilder is more based in reality, blending his beliefs into the everyday life of an average husband, a local attorney and now, political candidate. "I was shy in high school, in fact I was voted the class angel," said Wilder, who is running on the Green Party line for Supervisor in the Town of Babylon. "But I was not happy with the way I was and decided that when I went to college I was going to change that." That didn’t mean becoming a rebel or letting down on his academic commitments. It meant finding out what was important in life and then going for it, whether the ideas and the philosophies were popular or not.
"I guess that is what being a teenager is all about," said Wilder of his period of personal introspection. "When you hit 15, the world explodes. I didn’t rebel the way some teenagers do. If I was likely to do anything, it was to curl up in a chair and read a book." Attending Hofstra, Wilder studied business administration and management and became friendly with a group of people who were interested in the things he believed were important. He read a lot about Eastern relig-ions and began to strengthen the values he learned as a child. He met his best friend, David who led the movement to have Hofstra University divest of all of its financial interests in Africa and whose philosophies matched his own budding ideas. Along the way he earned a bachelor’s degree and learned a lot more. "Abby Hoffman was turning 50 and we talked about interviewing him but didn’t know how to reach him," said Wilder. "My friend knew how to reach his mother, though and we called her and she put us in touch with him. I learned from that experience that you never have to be afraid to approach people, even if they are famous, as long as you are respectful. The worst thing that can happen is that they say no." At Hofstra, Wilder also learned the power of the press. He joined the school’s alternative newspaper, the New Voice, and began to dapple in the political arena, which has become a part of his adult life. "I set up a debate for candidates for student president and I learned a few things from that experience," said Wilder, recalling how he had delegated the duties for publicizing the event to another student who didn’t come through. "In one way it was a failure because students didn’t show up but in another way it was a huge success because I got the media there and it became a campus media event." Wilder graduated from Copiague High School and took a three-year reprieve from the classroom following his graduation from Hofstra. During that time he worked full time at Columbia Bank in Amityville and is amazed, he said, that till today people still recognize him from the bank. He and a friend completed an outline of a book on the Chicago 8 and he ran the New York State Senate campaign for Linda Dietlich who ran—and lost—against Sen. Owen Johnson. He also worked on the primary campaign of Governor George Dukakis and went to the National Democratic Convention in 1988. "I worked 16 hours a day and had a great time," said Wilder. "Everything came out of my own pocket, but it was an experience that I would recommend that everyone do—at least once." By then, the time limit on his LSAT scores was running out and if Wilder wanted to go to law school it was either now or face retaking the tests later. He decided on the sure thing and applied to law school, landing a seat in George Washington University which he describes as "the best school I could make with my grades. "I was always interested in the law and thought it would be a great intellectual challenge, and it was," said Wilder of his decision. Though he denies any burning passion for the profession, he admits his elementary school signature book says: occupation: law. Wilder is the son of Carol and JulianWilder, a professor at Adelphi. But Wilder’s traditional lifestyle as a young man living at the turn of a new Century is framed around personal beliefs that defy the American marketing pressures on people today. He rarely eats packaged foods, drinks tap water, is almost a vegetarian and is seeking, with his wife and close circle of friends, ways to establish a simpler life. "A lot of things that were family and community are now being packaged and sold to us," said Wilder. "And as a result, we are losing our sense of community and our sense of what matters." He recalls, he said, how families would sing and play music together in a car or in the living room. Now, he points out, everyone has separate head phones and the music is polished and orchestrated and yes, meaningless. Instead, Wilder prefers the less perfect music of folk singers who have a message and remind us about what is important. One of his favorite artists is Harry Chapin and he recalls traveling to one of his Long Island concerts one day and pulling up at the gate only to learn that Chapin was dead. "I cried all day," said Wilder. "He was a man whose music had feeling and you felt close to him because of it. He was from Long Island and he did things for people; he was in the community." Instead, today, he said, too many people focus on work and money and providing material things for themselves and their families. "I have no problem with working hard, but I don’t think our lives should be nothing but work," said Wilder. "It should be the other way around. Work should enable us to spend time with the people we love." Love for Wilder comes in the form of his wife Kimberly. The couple make their home in Copiague. Kimberly Wilder, a musician and teacher is also running for office on the Green Party line, mounting a campaign against incumbent Suffolk lawmaker David Bishop, a Democrat and Republican John Iliou.He describes his wife as his soul mate. The two met at a folk concert and were immediately attracted to one another. "It took me a little longer to think marriage," he admits, "but guys do take a little longer."
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