LYCOMING COLLEGE 2024 FALL MAGAZINE

Last year, I was invited to address Weber’s team leaders from their media studios in Chicago, which was broadcast live throughout the world. I read one chapter from my book-length manuscript and answered questions from around the world: Australia, Russia, Denmark, England. This summer, in addition to conducting grilling demonstrations at various dealers throughout the state, I’ll be representing Weber at two benefits, one for the Animal Rescue League and another for the Children’s Miracle Network that benefits Geisinger Medical Center. I’ll also be a guest at Canada’s Weber Grilling Academy in August. The Ambassadorship opened these doors for me. We’ve heard that you enjoy being an ambassador because it allows you to combine your love for family, friends, and writing. Please explain. I’ve been unpacking an answer for years! My best one so far is for others to read my manuscript as it evolves on www. StandingintheShadowoftheKettle.com. There I’m demonstrating how all three work together, using interviews with Weber grill masters throughout the world, my personal stories, and photography of live fire events. For me and many others, grilling is both elemental and therapeutic, a way to make new friends and establish deeper ones. What’s more inviting than joining someone for a meal prepared outdoors under live fire?

How many grills do you have at home? Conservatively, I’ll say thirty! As part of the ambassadorship program, I’m sent new grills regularly and expected to use them in social media posts. As you might imagine, my favorites are fluid choices! What is your favorite food to grill? Salmon. I always hated salmon as a kid because it was oven-prepared to be bone dry. Now, I choose it gratefully not only for its health benefits, but for its exquisite flavor through live-fire cooking. Other than grilling and following the Boston Red Sox, how do you plan to spend your retirement? I have lots of projects! Margie and I will be traveling — I don’t mean just to Fenway Park!⁠ — and I want to meet my grilling friends who I only know through social media, particularly those in Germany, Holland, Austria, and Australia. For instance, we’re planning a trip to WeberFandag in March 2025, a huge event held in the Weber Grill Academy in Amersfoort, Netherlands. I also want to solicit a publisher for my book, “Standing in the Shadow of the Kettle: My Trip Back to Life through Weber Grilling.” I have a new website with some of the chapters from the book, so I need to maintain it. All in all, I’ll still be teaching and learning and listening and writing, all the things that I did during my years at Lycoming College.

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