Growing Up

I’m a happy husband of more than 40 years, a proud father of two and grandfather of five. Having been born in Charlotte, NC, I grew up, off and on, in Charlotte. I say off and on because my father was a trained chef, learning his craft before, during and after WW2 in the Merchant Marines. It caused us to move a lot, almost as much as being a military brat. For the most part, my brother Don and I loved it. Mom, not so much, but she made the best of it. My father was out at sea most of my first seven years and his home comings were always memorable. He told me and my younger brother great and exciting stories about his travels, all the places he had been, people he had met, things that he had seen. He shared two of his lifelong passions with us and they have become two of my own lifelong passions, food and travel. The passion for both translated in my life into a career that took us to many places in the world and an eager willingness to try any dish that was offered.

Traveling

I tell you there are some dishes I tried that were so delicious, so unique and so memorable, I can remember the tastes, almost as if they are in my mouth now. My career was in electronics, imaging, manufacturing, management and sales. I know, how in the world does that relate to my love of food, cooking and travel? Well, only in the sense that I had to eat, and I was a relentless “road warrior” for many years, the majority of which were with Eastman Kodak. The foundation for the rest had been laid by my father, mother, grandparents, uncles and aunts while growing up.

I also learned to love story telling from my father, my maternal grandfather and the family I grew up around in North Carolina; Charlotte, Dallas, Cherryville and Cherokee. Spending our summers on farms belonging to our extended family members, we came to love the stories told around a fireplace or sitting on the front porch or while walking down to a nearby creek for a cooling “skinny dip”.

Story Telling

The mystique of things long ago or far away, the long pauses so the storyteller could light a pipe, the flames licking the air in the fireplace all made us fall into the moment, the story and feeling of the moment. I can only remember fragments of the stories I heard, but I can tell you how they made me feel then and how they make me feel today. I’m a bit of a movie buff as well, with more than 1600 movie titles in my collection. Some of the movies that delight me most are about cooking and the joy of sharing an incredible meal. If you haven’t seen “Big Night”with Stanley Tucci and Tony Shalhoub, or “Julie and Julia” with Amy Adams and Meryl Streep, I highly recommend watching them. For years now, I’ve been telling stories, either through acting, writing screen plays, short stories, photography, videography, short film production or a novel (Yes, I’m writing a novel that may never be finished. Aren’t we all novelists deep down?) Anyway, a recent family event, a very happy one, gave me the idea to combine two of my great passions in life, food and storytelling. This is part of how I got to this point in my life, and why I’m writing this. In the hopes that someone may find it interesting and helpful.