10 Things You Might Not Have Known (#379)

One of the favorite new features of Singing News is "10 Things You Might Not Have Known About..." Since introducing this feature almost two years ago, we have discovered that this is one of the things people turn to first when they get the latest issue. Sometimes the questions are funny, sometimes they are probing, but they are always (hopefully) somewhat interesting.

Periodically, a reader will request a certain artist be featured and we try to accommodate those requests. Every now and then, someone will request that we use someone connected to Singing News, whether it be a columnist or one of the staff. In fact, if you'll recall, Jerry Kirksey was featured there several months ago.

A few days ago, I was "informed" by a person who shall remain nameless (but he goes by the moniker of Jerry Kirksey), that it was time for me to do the same.

Now folks, I'm about as boring as a dead rock. And to use me in that article would be a waste of good space. So, I reached a compromise...to put it on Danny's Diary. AND, I refused to let Jerry ask the questions. Instead I got someone else at the office to do it.

If you've got something better to do like change your car's oil, or perhaps watch the paint dry at your neighbor's house, or maybe try to count all the bricks of your office building, this might be a good time to do it. If you've got nothing else to do, then I suppose we'll be bored together...

1.) Where were you born?

Bert Fish Medical Center, New Smyrna Beach, Florida. Yes, there was electricity and running water. Despite what Michael Booth wants everyone to believe, I ain't that old.

2.) First job in Southern Gospel music?

A part-time DJ at WGRG-FM Greensboro, Georgia. I didn't put the station out of business; it's still on the air nearly 20 years later.

3.) Worst subject in college?

Can I say all of them? Actually, I was decent in most, but I detested economics and math.

4.) If you were not working in Southern Gospel music, what would you most like to be doing?

Chasing storms for the Weather Channel! I love meteorology. (Yes, I'd be the one most likely to be found near the beach during a hurricane or in an open field watching a tornado head in my direction.)

5.) Favorite hobby during your downtime is?

Yardwork - I can spend hours cutting grass and enjoy every second of it.

6.) Is there a Southern Gospel group you never saw "live" and wish you could go back in time to watch them perform?

There are two - I would love to see the Statesmen (Hovie Lister, Doy Ott, Jake Hess, Big Chief and Denver Crumpler) and the Happy Goodmans when they were at their peak. I never got to see Sam, Rusty, Howard and Vestal together. Howard and Vestal, yes; Rusty, yes. But never Sam, nor the four together.

7.) Favorite Vacation Spot?

Tybee Island, GA, or any of the major theme parks in Florida.

8.) Most recent brush with the famous?

Not too long ago I was in New York City and while I was in Central Park, comedian Eddie Murphy got out of a SUV and walked right in front of me as he was preparing to shoot a scene for an upcoming movie.

Just a few weeks after that, I was standing next to NASCAR's Richard Childress as we rode on an escalator in the Atlanta airport.

9.) Favorite Southern Gospel memory thus far?

That's impossible to narrow down to just one. However, I will say that visiting George Younce's home several years ago was a hoot. If he told one old story, he told a thousand. I was doing an "At Home" feature on him for an upcoming issue and as we went around the house, he'd open closet after closet - and there were his cowboy boots all over the place. I don't know how many pairs he had, but he could have opened his own store.

10.) The most stressful part about your job is?

Just keeping everything flowing so that they'll all come together at the right time. By that I mean staying mindful of press deadlines, getting the articles from all the writers and getting them tweaked in time so they'll be in the right place when the production deparment begins the actual process of putting the magazine together. So if a writer can't get an artist to call them back at the promised time or we have to yank a story for something more time-sensitive, that whole process starts over - but the due date doesn't change.

Is that paint dry yet?