Musings of the Great Gonzo

For as long as I can remember, I have always had a love for the movies. My tastes in cinema are varied and run the gamut from adventure to thriller, science fiction to historical drama. I can recall many Friday nights at the Village Square theatre, sitting in the dark, munching hot, buttered popcorn as James Bond, Inspector Clouseau, or Clint Eastwood’s Man with No Name flickered across the silver screen. As a child and young man I spent many hours in the dark, always at the side of my father. He had a love of movies and the arts that he passed on to me. But, his love of the movies and the worlds they transported us to was just one manifestation of his passion for life, family, and the arts. As a boy he shaped me into the man that I am today by instilling in me a strong work ethic, exemplifying what it meant to be a husband and a father, and encouraging me to enrich myself through the arts. My father was a firefighter in the small-town suburb of St. Louis where I grew up. His de...