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| Merrill Dubrow Man of Mystery |
Yes you know I am a passionate baseball fan and love the Boston Redsox. Yes you know I have worked in marketing research for over twenty-five years. Yes you know I live in Texas and am very competitive. But five things you probably didn’t know:
- That I broke my collar bone not once but twice as a kid? The first time was playing street hockey and the second time was at the beach when I was buried in the sand standing up – yes standing up and when I tried to get out – well let’s just say that didn’t work out too well.
- I have two sisters–one who has been in the healthcare field and has the biggest heart in the world and the other one is in new business development and is better at sales than I ever have been!
- I lived in Deerfield, IL when I was 11 years old and still can remember going to the tennis courts and actually putting my hand under the fence and stealing tennis balls (certainly NOT proud of this) WHILE there was a game going on.
- I rarely drink and sometimes can actually feel the effects of liquor after 5 sips of a beer.
- The most famous person I ever had dinner with (by far) was Reverend Jessie Jackson. This was a few years ago in LA at Dantana’s and was an amazing experience. There were only six people at the table and he was very charismatic and charming.
Ok now you know a little more about me.
What about you sharing a few things about you that I don’t know or would be surprised to know?
I look forward to reading your comments.
janet says:
My mother was Miss Rhode Island in 1927. I have the trophy displayed in my home.
In my immediate family I have all the following professionals: actress (NY); Jazz singer (NY); Opera singer (Germany); Folk singer and musician (2 CD’s); photographer; artist. Not sure why I did not get any talent, although…
In High school I was in a small Madrigal group that sang at the World’s Fair.
I collect frogs, bells, tablecloths, and perfume bottles (in addition to shoes, of course).
I invented Ludia, a medicine for horses, when I was four. I was very imaginative back then.
Merrill Dubrow says:
Janet,
I thought I knew you very well but didn’t know about your Mom. I did know about your collection of frogs.
Thanks for sharing.
Merrill
Jeffrey Lorber says:
Was that the Knoxville World’s Fair? ’cause I was there.
Jami Pulley says:
Merrill- shame on you for stealing tennis balls:)
I shot an eight point buck about 5 years ago with my husband. He wanted me to shoot a doe, but I couldn’t do it because she had babies with her.
I started reading romance novels in Jr. High, but currently only have time for self help and leadership books. I read more when I’m on the road than any other time.
My nephews call me Aunt Jay-Jay, and still think I’m cool.
I dance like a rock star in my living room with my girls at least once a week- this is what we call a Dance Party. Robert, my husband, laughs at me and insists that I never dance like that in public.
I have a horrible habit of procrastinating, and have been working on improving in this area since I was 16.
I always have a messy car and office, but my house is always clean (or at least it is always clean before I go to bed).
Fee Sepahi says:
1. I broke my nose the 1st and only time I tried playing baseball. No, not with a bat but with a ball! I was ~12, living in Iran and there were baseball try outs. They sent me to the outfield to catch fly balls and someone yelled “heads up” and when I looked up, there was a baseball screaming for the bridge of my nose….
2. I have had a malignant melanoma, though I REALLY don’t consider myself “a cancer survivor”.
3. I’ve riding my bicycle from Philadelphia to Washington DC (~250 via the route they mapped), to be benefit AIDS.
4. When I first learned about the internet (198x)….ha, ha, showing my age….I helped a middle school in Borough Alaska, (claims to be the northern most town in North America) with a project to communicate with middle school on the shores of NJ, to create a massive quilt, built from each students art work, that they then shared and exhibited at their respective schools for many years.
5. The most famous person I’ve shaken hands with and crossed paths with, in some form and no specific order: President Jimmy Carter, Darryl Strawberry, Mrs. Coretta Scott King, now governor Ed Rendell, Davis Phinney, Chad Lewis, and I have an autographed book of Madeline Albright. And I have many more to meet….
Merrill Dubrow says:
Fee,
Interesting stuff – thanks for sharing. I never knew you lived in Iran. I did know about the bicycle ride and that is very cool.
You are a very good person for all that you do and give back!
Keep up the good work.
Merrill
Stephenie Gordon says:
1. My baby picture was the “photograph” in the frames that you bought at Belk Department store.
2. I was a competitive gymnast until i broke my ankle practicing my uneven bars dismount (my least favorite event – i loved vault and floor).
3. Still to this day, i think there is no place more fun than Camp Green Cove in Tuxedo, NC.
4. as a kid (starting as young as 2 years old) i would go around and tell everyone i was pregnant and my baby’s name was Poppy, then i would open my mouth so you could see her in my belly.
5. My dad is the coolest person i know. He’s played golf with some of the greatest in the world, but my favorite is Michael Jordan. Arnold Palmer and Nick Faldo are close 2nds…
Merrill Dubrow says:
Stephenie,
It is funny I was with Deb Schlesinger when I was reading this and I asked her who this was as I read what you wrote. She guessed it was you but not until number 5. The picture frame is really funny – and I never knew some of the other stuff as well.
Thanks for your thoughts.
Merrill
Melanie says:
1. As a child, I thought the word “Britches” was a dirty word.
2. My daddy was a dredge boater – the boats he worked on helped build beaches all along the gulf coast and helped deepen the Mississippi for large boats to navigate.
3. I’m really, really bad at Geography. I don’t know why, but I am.
4. I was in the Army as a linguist where I became fluent in Persian Farsi and surprised everyone with my marksmanship.
5. I was a voice major in school. I never thought I’d be in research.
Ed Sugar says:
1. After my parents got married, my mother’s father, who was a widower, married my father’s mother, who was a widow. To make it even more interesting my mother’s surname was Cane.
2. When I was six years old, I wrote a letter to President Kennedy about a coal mine disaster. I got a response back from his secretary dated November 22, 1963.
3. When I was in Scotland, I got a VIP tour of a working coal mine. I wore a yellow jumpsuit, hard hat and lantern. The mine inspectors took me one mile below the earth’s surface and 3 miles to the very face of the mine wall, where we crawled for 100 yards, as dirt and coal were falling down on us.
4. I once accidentally ran over my laptop at an airport parking lot.
5. Celebrity encounters, living in Los Angeles most of my life, I have had my fair share in supermarket, sporting event and fund raising settings. Here are four of the more interesting that I have had:
a. When I was 7, my mother was driving on the freeway and was involved in a hit and run accident. Chuck Connors, of “The Rifle Man”, pulled over and gave us a ride home.
b. I was once a produce clerk working for Safeway and Frank Robinson had me slice a watermelon in half for him.
c. During the mid 70′s I worked in the retail music industry. In those days we had our equivalent to the “3 martini” lunch, which was, shall we say, kind of illegal. One of my vendors was George DiCaprio, who supplied our retail chain with underground comics. On many occasions we would finalize our business dealings by “indulging”, often in front of his year and half old son, Leonardo.
d. On separate occasions. I have stood next to both Vice President Biden (he was a Senator at the time) and the late H.R. Haldeman as we each “paid our water bills” in the “little boys room”.
Melanie says:
Wow, Ed. I think you win the prize for things I didn’t know and would never have guessed. “Sugar Cane” is priceless!
Magda Ayoub Cooling says:
From my Dads side: A great Uncle was an awesome pilot in the Blue Angels. This same Man was in the Olympics, representing Egypt, and medaled in the High Dive. From Moms side: Her Dad, a Chemist, was the original inventor of that Green paint they use for the road-signs that doesn’t fade. Me? Used to be a competitive Figure (ice) skater. At age 16 was invited to be a featured skater in an ice show in Colorado! Was also a Low Test Judge for a number of years.
Kimberly White says:
I love things like this…. 5 things that you do not know about me:
1) I have had my passport since I was 16 years old and I have a HUGE travel bug so I will never let it expire. I have travelled to/around 60 countries across 5 continents and there are a lot more that I want to explore.
2) I got to CALL IN a commercial airline from the co-pilot seat in Indonesia as we were coming in for our landing on Flores Island back in 1995. (Obviously this was WAY before 9-11) After calling the flight in, I got to sit between the two pilots while they landed our COMMERCIAL FLIGHT. (I have photos if you’d like to see them.)
3) I’ve skydived, bungee jumped twice, white water rafted on 3 continents, I’ve spelunked, lived on a farm in New Zealand mustering sheep and cattle on horseback and I have scuba dived in 3 different oceans and in at least 6 different seas.
4) I rarely leave home without at least one of my cameras. I usually have two of them with me, not including my camera phone. I love to catch people doing daily life activities worldwide.
5) I love to volunteer! I have been an active volunteer as far back as can remember as my parents and grandparents have always been very active volunteers. I love hands of volunteer work and have supported the Inglis Foundation (www.inglis.org), Habitat For Humanity, Philabundance and Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta India to name a few.
Bill Dunn says:
1. I am incredibly superstitious – especially when it comes to left vs. right. I always walk through a doorway, step down off of a curb, or onto a flight of stairs with my left foot first. Also every pair of shoes that I have that have laces are laced left over right.
2. In my life, I have been involved in some very physical sports (football, wrestling, hockey) but to this day I have never broken a bone (*KNOCKING ON WOOD*).
3. I actually shot pool with Michael Jordan the year he was playing minor league baseball in Birmingham, AL. Best I can tell, the rumors that he will bet on just about anything are true.
4. My great uncle was the first male registered nurse in the southeastern U.S. and later became a private nurse to some very famous people, the most notable of which were Babe Ruth and H.G.Wells.
5. I have been to (or through) airports in New York City, Chicago, and New Orleans but have never actually been to the cities themselves.
Lynn Stalone says:
Kim – I would love to see those photos!
Lynn Stalone says:
1. I have 5 siblings. My youngest sister was not yet born and 2 weeks overdue at my wedding and the second youngest was a month old. No, I was not married at 12.
2. I rode rodeos for years as a kid and teenager. Cow roping, bull riding and all barrel-racing and other events involved. I still have my big buckle and the belt with my name in silver letters on the back. Associated with this, my first car was a Chevy shortbed pickup… with a matching horse trailer.
3. I met Maurice Stans (Watergate) in Carl Karcher’s office at a meeting as a very young person in this industry – I might have been 25. Meeting Karl Carcher was a big deal already! Mr. Karcher asked my opinion of a business proposal he and Mr. Stans were discussing. I did not know who Mr. Stans was until leaving when the senior person I was with explained it to me.
4. Related to the above… I actually asked permission from the senior person I was with before I gave my opinion becuase I thought the idea was lousy. I think that was the last time I asked permission for anything
5. I can’t pass a DUI test when drinking water. I’ve had 6 cuncussions and fall over when I close my eyes – never mind the lean back and touch your nose thing or walking a straight line. Luckily, I don’t break easily.
Will Morris says:
These are just facts, no political judgments:
1. I had both Bill and Hillary Clinton as law professors at the University of Arkansas 1974-1976.
2. I graduated from the same high school as President Barrack Obama, but a decade earlier. Punahou School.
3. I shook hands with President Kennedy in October of 1963 and was on the Huntley- Brinkley news that evening.
4. I was born on January 7th, which made me the first baby of the new year in Eureka Springs, Arkansas.
5. I played football, basketball, and baseball in high school and broke a bone in each sport.
Paul Kirch says:
1. I won the National Leadership Award from 4-H when I was 13 years old.
2. Though today, I’m a city boy, I grew up riding a horse bare-back on my parent’s farm.
3. I learned to make change when I was 6 years old, working in my parents produce store. I am great at simple math to this day, thanks to that early start. And, yes, my parents were watching.
4. I once played 63 holes of golf in one day. The last two holes were essentially played in the dark. The following day was the start of a two day tournament I played in as well.
5. I’m currently working on writing my first book and looking forward to sharing my story.
chris hauck says:
I played three different varsity sports in college – some better than others;
I live in heaven – Boulder CO
I’m went to TCU and am an avid fan of all TCU sports teams
I play the bass guitar in a rock band and my wife is our drummer – we are the rhythm section
I love to snowboard, but like most of the sports i have ever participated in, I could be a lot better at it.
Naomi Walters-Lenoci says:
Merrill, you come up with some great ideas – just today we were talking about things other people don’t know about you.
1. Both my parents were born and raised in the Amish religion. I still have a lot of Amish cousins but only a few Aunts and Uncles left.
2. I’m one of 8 children – 5 boys and 3 girls and Dad always said he had his own basketball team and cheerleaders.
3. My parents built an ice cream stand when I was 12 years old. We just celebrated the 50th anniversary of Yup’s Dairyland in Middlebury, IN last summer. There are only 7 of us siblings now, but we were all in attendance with my mother. Lots of cousins and a great fun 4th of July weekend celebrating life!
4. I was awarded the Illinois Junior Clubwoman of the Year in 1981 for the General Federation of Women’s Clubs. Love that volunteer work – still at it today.
5. I was an elected official for the Streamwood Park District for 22 years as well. They have even named a gazebo after me in one of our largest parks – I’m very proud of this gift. This was all volunteer work as well as park district officials do not and can not get paid in the State of Illinois.
6. The funniest person I have met is Bill Murray. His sister is one of my friends – they all have a great sense of humor in that family.
Deb Forte says:
1. I am from a family of thirteen and I have a twin sister and there is another set 2 1/2 years older then me. Seven girls and six boys. My parents had 13 children in 16 years. Married to each other to the end of time.
2. I am very competitive wonder if having such a big family helped. I was a gymnast all through school. Love to be on the stage. Not too shy.
3. I love to cook and I have taken 5 years of certified cooking classes. My grown boys friends still call me Miss Debbie they love to eat at our home. I cook for my elderly neighbors and where ever I have lived I have cooked for those neighbors too. I am heading to Italy end of April and will be taking a cooking class in Tuscany can’t wait with the girls!!
4. I grew up in Foxboro and had a paper route for 4 years. I turned it also into a delivery service. As I delivered their papers at the Town Hall I took their afternoon orders at the local coffee shop. I had double basket on the back of my bike and thought I was it.
5. I use to Nanny for the summers in New Jersey for one of the top Harness Racers. They moved from Foxboro and brought me along in the summers. It was a treat always being in the winners circle.
Jeffrey Lorber says:
1. I hitchiked across the U.S. (Now who is old?)
2. I was arrested in Austin, Texas for “falling asleep” on the Governor’s lawn.
3. I was at Pres. Kennedy’s birthday party at Madison Sq. Garden where Marilyn Monroe sang “Happy Birthday Mr. President” in a flesh-colored, tight-fitting gown. And if it wasn’t for the sequins…
4. I have worked for 10 different Market Research Companies – hey they keep hiring me! (Is that a record?)
5. I went to UVa at a time when it was all Men (except for a few teachers and nurses) and you were expected to wear a jacket and tie to class. I then went on to earn my MA in Creative Writing at Hollins University which at the time was an all-female school with only a handful of male grad students. Gotta love universal harmony! Somewhere in there I spent a year living in Israel and a summer backpacking in Europe.
Lucy Haydu says:
Wow…pretty interesting…I didn’t know all this about everyone!
1) I’m first generation in the US (parents both from Sicily)
2) Started donating blood at age 16 and have continued to donate every 8 weeks since (except when returning from foreign 3rd world country trips where I had to wait a year)
3) Held up at place of business by gunpoint at age 16. Identified the man in a police line-up, testified in court. Terrifying experience.
4) First plane ride was one way up, skydived down (1970).
5) Had my first quarter horse when I was 12, won ribbons and trophies for barrel racing and hurdle jumping. Trained Tennessee Walkers and at 19 developed a severe allergy to horses and gave it up.
Bonus tidbit:
Involved with the sport of Hot-Air ballooning since 1985.
Laurie Bausk says:
1. When I was a Senior in High School I attempted to build a 6ft tall Kangaroo out of clay…
2. My guidance counselor in high school told me not to apply to a 4 year school, I did, got accepted and graduated…
3. I dressed up as blue crayon for Halloween and won 1st prize in high school…
4. Volunteered at my daughter’s elementary school library, she checked out a book that was checked out by my brother MERRILL when he attended Charlotte Dunning, I got to keep the library card…
5. My favorite TV show is Judge Judy…
Karen Dawson says:
1. I grew up on a dairy farm north of Boston, complete with cows, horses, ducks and chickens…but also had a peacock.
2. I won a Hallmark Valentine’s Card contest in the 4th grade; still remember what the card looks like even today.
3. Had seasons Celtics tickets for the 13 years Larry Bird was on the Celtics; those were magical years.
4. Was suppose to be a High School English teacher; ended up in the travel business.
5. Going on a Culinary Tour to Tuscany this August with Chef Darren McGrady (former private chef to Princess Diana) that I put together; have waited my whole travel career for this one.