TOWNTRAVIS.COM DISCLAIMER
This is my personal website. It does not necessarily reflect the views of any person or entity, including myself, and no other such person or entity is responsible for the contents. I am not responsible for any actions or content inspired by this website or incurred while visiting it, or for any damages or losses directly or indirectly caused or alleged to have been caused as a result of your or another’s use or reliance on the information provided by this website. By visiting this site you agree to the above terms.
OFFICIAL BIO
Town graduated from the Medill School of Journalism with a master’s degree. Previously, he worked as an executive assistant in R&D at a health risk management company, after graduating from Arkansas Tech University with a bachelor’s degree in sociology and a minor in creative writing. Town lives in Arkansas and is currently writing his first book, The Cinder Path, an historical piece of narrative nonfiction about his grandparents, along with several other literary projects.
UNOFFICIAL BIO
My Texan parents met and married in Arkansas, and although my father later returned to Texas and my mother always wished to return to the place of her birth, I had the misfortune to be born in Arkansas, at Baxter Regional Medical Center in Mountain Home, at 8:21 a.m. on January 3, 1984. My mother chose the name Town because to her it “sounded like bells in a far off land.” (She says Town sounds like tune… etc.) It is of English origin. My ancestry is English, Scottish, Irish and perhaps some German.
I grew up in Yellville, Arkansas, about 20 miles from my birthplace. I lived with my mother, Pamela Tina; my brother, Patrick Michael (older by six years); my grandmother, Betty Louise Grove; and my aunt, Samantha Scott Amedeo, who lived next door. My father, Jack Carter Glass, and my mother were divorced before my first birthday and I grew up without contact with my father.
As a child I was quiet and introspective. I suppose my preference for solitude seemed like shyness, but it was really just evidence of my failure to fit in with my peers. I was precocious and often found myself bored or bemused by the antics of other children. Subsequently, I gravitated toward adults. Even in kindergarten, my school lunch hours were often spent in conversation with my teachers.
I attended 13 years at Yellville-Summit elementary, junior high and high schools. My brother blazed a path of intelligence through the school six years before me, and my reputation was built on assumptions from the beginning; every teacher remembered Patrick and was certain that I would be just as smart. Fortunately, I was. I had my first crush in kindergarten, followed by new infatuations each school year until fourth grade when I fell into deep puppy love and remained there until high school. Yellville is a small town of only a couple thousand, and my graduating class had 68 students. I believe everyone liked me, although I was never popular aside from the respect earned by my scholastic prowess. I never had more than two close friends at a time, but those friendships remain important to me even now.
High school swept by filled with honors classes, hours upon hours of reading (for pleasure) and clandestine gatherings with MX7, the espionage organization I co-founded. Our primary objectives were to flirt with girls via high speed car chases and harass our favorite biology teacher (who later joined our organization); my most notable exploit as MX7 agent 007 was to ride atop a Dodge Durango speeding 70 mph at night across an unpaved abandoned airfield. I was a member of the German club, FBLA (Future Business Leaders of America), BEST (Boosting Engineering, Science and Technology) and president of the National Honors Society. In addition, I rotated between first and second chair in the band’s percussion section.
During my senior year, I attended school only in the mornings, when I took college courses at North Arkansas College and Arkansas State University/Mountain Home. At noon each day, I drove to the local Marion County shirt factory where I worked the night shift until 9 p.m. I bought my first car – a dilapidated 1990 Chevrolet Beretta that lasted several months before giving up the ghost. It was a manual transmission, and every car I have owned since has been a standard as well.
As graduation approached, I weighed my options. One of my mentors was a Marine recruiter, so I considered that avenue and even went so far as to attend MEPS (the Military Entrance Processing Station), where I scored perfect on the ASVAB and swore into the delayed entry program with the U.S. Marine Corps. My impeccable test score granted me the opportunity to have essentially any job I wanted with the Corps, and although I dreamed of pursuing a career in Intel (supplemented by attending the Naval Academy at Annapolis), eventually I opted for the traditional college route instead. Although I could probably have gone almost anywhere with my ACT score of 32, I only applied to Arkansas schools. Staying near friends and family seemed more important at the time. Sometimes I regret that decision, but c’est la vie. I was accepted to every university to which I applied.
In 2003, I graduated as valedictorian from Yellville-Summit. The same night I had my first wreck, hydroplaning and flipping my 1999 Jeep Wrangler Sport (which I purchased only two months earlier). That summer I took a road trip through Texas with my mother in my next vehicle, a 1997 Pontiac Sunfire Sport. We spent several days on the beach at Port Aransas, near Corpus Christi, then visiting Eagle Pass where my grandmother once taught Mexican children, and venturing across the border to Piedras Negras. We stopped in Uvalde, my mother’s birthplace, and drove on to San Antonio, where my father lives. Meeting him was the primary reason for the vacation, so my mother called him (they hadn’t spoken since a phone call on my tenth birthday). I met my father for the first time outside the Alamo. We strolled along the river walk and talked about trivialities. Two hours later, we parted ways. I got one letter from him a few months later, but haven’t heard from him since then.
I began college in the fall at Arkansas Tech University in Russellville, Arkansas. I was young, optimistic, a hardcore Republican, a devout Christian and a political science major. Within the first month there, I met Sarah. I fell in love. And it ended.
During the next three years, I got my B.A. in sociology with a minor in creative writing. I met many interesting people and did many bizarre and interesting things, including: surviving my second car wreck (my roommate was driving; we were hit head-on by a Ford Explorer, and my car spun for about 30 feet); partying all night, attending class all morning and working at Wal-mart all afternoon and evening; and directing portions of a documentary about methamphetamine (Temporary Sparrows).
In the last of my three years as an undergrad, while working as Senior Fellow in the Behavioral Sciences department, I was offered a job by my former stats professor; it led to two years of extremely well paid work as an executive assistant in R&D at Kersh Risk Management. I bought another unsatisfactory, but very cheap, car – a 1994 Toyota Paseo. In 2006, I graduated from ATU. A few days before my graduation, my grandmother died of cancer, after suffering for months with dementia. At her funeral I cried for the first time in almost two years.
I lived for the next year at the luxurious Spring Lake apartments in Russellville while working at Kersh. I sold my Paseo to a coworker in anticipation of my next car – the only vehicle I didn’t purchase myself. My mother bought me a 2004 MINI Cooper S, which I still love and drive. Between 2005 and the end of 2007 I had a couple of noteworthy relationships and several less significant ones. Although I loved my job and the lifestyle it afforded me, I missed being in school, so I applied and was accepted to graduate school at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism.
During one of Illinois’ worst snowstorms, I drove to Chicago, arriving just days before New Year’s, 2008. I moved into my tiny one bedroom apartment in the university housing in Evanston. In the year that followed, I acquired a few journalistic skills, but most importantly gained the prestigious Medill name on my résumé and a hefty student loan debt. My approach to graduate school was much more cautious than it had been in undergrad. I came for school and tried to remain professional with my classmates, as I had not done sufficiently while at ATU. Nevertheless, I met several incredible people. I graduated in December 2008 with my Masters of Science in Journalism.
I moved back to Arkansas, where I reside with my MINI Cooper S, Macbook Pro, and iPhone.
My interests are varied and malleable. Writing is always a constant for me; it’s in my blood. I am currently writing a nonfiction book, titled The Cinder Path, which is primarily about the tragic lives of my grandparents. I also enjoy areas of sociology – particularly sociology of religion, alienation/anomie, medicine, and communication. Photography is an off-and-on hobby, and I also spend a lot of time editing and redesigning my blog. I would like to learn to play the piano and to become fluent in Spanish, but I never seem to find the time for those pursuits.
The things one finds entertaining, I believe, illustrate a great deal about that person. The following lists represent my favorite selections in music, literature, video, etc. I have almost 25 GB’s of music, more than 400 movies (including TV shows), and approximately 250 books.
Music:
The Beach Boys, The Beatles, Belle & Sebastian, Ben Folds, Coldplay, David Bowie, Death Cab for Cutie, The Decemberists, The Flaming Lips, Frank Sinatra, The Postal Service, Radiohead, Simon & Garfunkel, Something Corporate
TV Shows:
Burn Notice, Family Guy, Futurama, House, Nip/Tuck, The OC, Scrubs, The Simpsons, Weeds, The West Wing
Movies:
Blood Diamond, Braveheart, The Children of Men, Crashing, The Departed, Fight Club, Garden State, High Fidelity, Legends of the Fall, The Matrix, Resident Evil, Run Lola Run, Spartacus, Spy Game, The Thomas Crown Affair, Troy, Underworld, V for Vendetta, Watchmen
Video Games:
Grand Theft Auto series, Max Payne, Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne, Primal, Resident Evil series
Books:
Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand, Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis, The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas, Dracula by Bram Stoker, the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling, His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman, the James Bond series by Ian Fleming, Garden of Eden by Ernest Hemingway, The Lord of the Rings trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien, 1984 by George Orwell, The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky, The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde, Prozac Nation by Elizabeth Wurtzel, the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer, Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, Wintermind by Marvin Kaye & Parke Godwin, The Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice
Quote:
While the truncheon may be used in lieu of conversation, words will always retain their power. Words offer the means to meaning, and for those who will listen, the enunciation of truth.
- V, V for Vendetta