Rory Cripps's Channel

I grew up in the north east section of Queens New York and lived there for about 40 years. Queens is one of New York City's five burroughs and at one point, according to the US census, was the most culturally diverse county in America. For 23 years, I lived just up the block from New York's East River and, as a result, I had a clear view of the Manhattan skyline. Indeed my view, throughout my formative years, was spectacular and I didn't even realize it at the time! The town that I grew up in was comprised of working class and middle class families. It had the reputation of being a "tough place". Indeed, many kids would beat the crap out of each other just for the fun of it. But that was where it ended. No knives, no guns, and with rare exception no killings. The interesting thing about my hometown is that, in my opinion, it had more talented musicians, singers, and songwriters per square foot than any other place in America. It also had more bars per square foot than any other place in America. I spent alot of time on boats out on the ocean and the Long Island Sound. I also spent many of my summers in the sticks of Southern Illinois on the back of a horse. I grew up in the best of both worlds as far as I'm concerned. I currently reside in the Florida Tampa Bay area and have resided there since 1998. I majored in economics, and I'm a musician at heart and have been teaching guitar and music theory off and on throughout the past thirty years. I'm currently the administrator for one of my hometown's websites. I'm also an avid reader of fiction. Some of my favorite modern-day authors are John Irving, Tom Wolfe, and Larry McMurtry. Two of my all time favorite books are "A Confederacy Of Dunces" and "Until I Find You".