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THE TERRY REPORT
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Personal background: Doug Terry is the son of a “pipeliner”, Thomas N. Terry II, who found work during hard economic times in building oil and gas pipelines for the transmission of oil supplies from Texas and elsewhere to the rest of the country. His dad worked on pipelines from the age of 17 until his retirement at the age of 65, 48 years, most of the time as an operating engineer, the person who runs heavy equipment. Doug’s brother and his brother’s son, both also named Tom, continue the family tradition by working in pipelines as their primary careers.** A well employed pipeliner could then, and can now, make more than the average lawyer in the US, so his father dragged his wife and young family of three boys with him while Doug was growing up. It wasn’t just the “good money” that made the pipeline life attractive: his father loved the work. His father had also been seared by the experience of deep poverty because his mother was left alone to care for the family when he was a child, so the natural work ethic he came by in Texas was accentuated by the rough lessons of life. Over the course of his long working life, Terry or Newt, as he was variously known on the job, worked as far west as the Colorado/Montana line, as far east as Massachusetts and as far south as New Orleans, Louisiana and Monterey, Mexico. From each job along the way, he stored up dozens of pipeline stories that he eagerly told all his life. The Terry family settled for five years in Oklahoma, starting when Doug was in the third grade. Doug’s father bought a small, very rural ranch and farm. Entering school in rural Oklahoma marked the 8th school Doug had attended by the third grade, an average of two moves for every grade to that point. The travel gave him lots of experience in dealing with local bullies who always came out to greet the “new kids in town”. It also offered a panoramic view of America, up close. He has often remarked that the education received “on the road” could never be duplicated by the most elite colleges in the country. It’s lessons would defy academic methods. After the 8th grade, the family left the family ranch, but held on to the property. They moved back to Pennsylvania, where Doug had been born. He spent his high school years outside Reading, Pa., attending Exeter High School, where he took part in track and almost every other activity offered by the school. Coming in from rural Oklahoma, where virtually no school activities were available, he plunged in to whatever was offered. During high school. he won the Eagle Award, the highest available in his school, and a school-wide essay contest on the subject of “what freedom means to me”. While in high school, he became, first, a popular DJ on the local rock radio station in Reading and then a news reporter at the same station before heading off to Texas for college. (more on his educational background can be found on linkedin.com) His beloved younger brother, Robert S. Terry, died at the age of 8 when Doug was 16, leaving him without his best friend in the world. Growing up, Terry most admired Martin Luther King and Malcolm X, as well as various writers and artists and a writer who came from the same area of Pennsylvania, John Updike. At present, two of his most admired people are also his friends, the artist/painter Greg Mort and the well known Texas writer Larry McMurtry, whom Doug met early in his days in Washington, DC as McMurtry’s career was taking off. Julian Bond, known for his intellectual depth and instantly well rounded speaking ability and lifelong dedication to civil rights, is a long time, admired friend, as is John Lewis, Congressman from Georgia. He also lists Luca Tucci as one of his admired friends for Luca’s determination, work ethic and dedication to his family and fealty to his Italian heritage. When asked to list people he least admires, Terry replied, “Not enough space”, but he says he would have no difficulty filling out the top spots. The most important part, family Doug’s wife, Janet, and their daughter, Britt, are the focus of his rapt attention and support and he is greatly inspired by their dedication, spirit, warmth and community service. Janet serves as president of the Olney Farmers and Artists Market, a highly successful market started in 2008, and works during the week as a news writer/producer at the CBS affiliate in Washington, DC. Janet is the daughter of a prominent retired doctor, Gerald Mirrer, who lives with his wife, Mildred, in Great Neck, NY. Daughter Britt has embarked on a career in New York City and works for a major publishing company, volunteers at the New York Animal Shelter and has plans to be married in 2010. Britt recently hiked up above the summer snow line in the mountains of Switzerland with her finance, Ben, and a group of other family and friends, led by Paul Kimballl, all of whom were there for a family wedding event. Britt studied psychology at the College of Charleston, finishing all of her regular course work for a degree within three years of entering.
**Dan Rather, formerly the anchor of CBS News, is also the son of a pipeliner from Texas. |
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Where do editors, producers and columnists go when they run out of fresh ideas? The TerryReport |
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CYCLING PAGES: news of cycling, Tour de France, Giro d’Italia, Tour of California, safe streets, great cycling across America |
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STATter911.com, website about fires and firefighting emergencies, local (DC) and nationwide |
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THOUGHTS ON PHOTOGRAPHY in post-PhotoShop world by Doug Terry |
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GINGRICH SAYS DEMS THREATEN THE “SURVIVAL” OF AMERICA. Are they really that bad? |
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THE CULTURAL DIVIDE IN AMERICA OVER J.D.SALINGER AND CATCHER IN THE RYE |
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PRESIDENT OBAMA CALLS FOR A RETURN TO CIVILITY IN AMERICAN POLITICS |
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PANTS BOMBER: A HUGE FAILURE: WORSE THAN 9-11 |
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