By Madeline Otten
Correspondent
Where do you live?
- “I live in Fluvanna County.”
How long have you lived in Fluvanna County? What brought you here?
- “26 years, teaching jobs brought us here.”
Tell us about your family.
- “My wife is Stephanie and my two children and Erin and Conner.”
What did you want to be when you were growing up?
- “A rock ‘n’ roll drummer.”
What was your very first job?
- “An actor with Colonial National Park. I portrayed a British officer at Yorktown in Moore House.”
What do you do for a living?
- “I am a teacher at Fluvanna County High School. I teach television production and leadership.”
- What do you like to do in your spare time?
- “Stephanie and I love to go birding. We discovered a few year ago, and it is something we both really enjoy doing. It gets us out together in nature and it is kind of like a scavenger hunt! I also love to camp, hike, cave, kayak, and play guitar.”
What is one food that you could never live without? What is one you can never bring yourself to eat?
- “Could not live without peanut butter. I do not think I would be partial to crickets.”
If there was a zombie apocalypse, who are three people you would want on your team?
- I would bring Bruce Springsteen, Paul McCartney, and my brother Jimmy. We would play music together.”
What are your three favorite movies?
- “’Roman Holiday’ – Peck and Hepburn interplay, ‘This is Spinal Tap’ – it goes to eleven, and ‘Nacho Libre’ – always up for a little taste of glory.”
Which is better – a novel or a movie?
- “I am a film buff, so I would go with that. I love the collaborative nature of film.”
What fictional character do you wish you could meet and why?
- “Wile E. Coyote. I would advise him…that it is a fruitless effort.
What is the best piece of advice you have received?
- “A trusted friend once told me, ‘It’s not about you.’”
What pivotal decision helped to shape your life?
- “The choice to follow Christ.”
Tell us about a way you have changed over the years.
- “My wisdom definitely has increased.”
What has surprised you about your life?
- “That I can find peace in stressful situations.”
What’s one thing you hope to accomplish before you die?
- “I will take it day by day…I love the idea of traveling life’s road with all of its twists and turns. So I guess to meet lots of interesting people on the journey.”
Tell us about one of your regrets.
- “I wish I had learned to speak Spanish when I was young.”
Tell us about your proudest moment.
- “Taking Conner and Erin on their first long hikes.”
Where is your favorite place to travel to and why?
- “I love to camp up in Canada with my family. It has miles and miles of wilderness.”
When you are having a bad day, what do you do to make yourself feel better?
- “I take a walk in the woods.”
What quote or saying do you connect with most? Why do you like it?
- “’Behold!’ I remember sitting on the edge of the Grand Canyon as the sun fell one evening and a small butterfly landed in my foreground…and with all the vast natural beauty around, that small butterfly was something to behold. I like moments like that.”
