Renaissance Man

Long ago, someone once described me as such. I didn't give it much thought back then, but the subject came up at work recently, so I checked out the definition of the term. In all honestly, it might not be all that far off the mark.

I was raised in a richly academic environment since day one. My mother was a schoolteacher; my father, a chemical engineer who worked his way through college and graduate school as a general contractor doing carpentry, plumbing and electrical jobs. My (much older) brothers studied mechanical engineering, electrical engineering and computer science in college and graduate school. As I interacted with them all consistently, quite a lot naturally rubbed off on me.

Given this background, it might seem odd, then, that my own college studies were in art, graphic design and communications (I'd actually wanted to study film, but this was not offered as a major at the school I attended). But when one combines most any sort of artistry with proficiencies in applied areas, it makes for a very well-rounded outlook on the universe. The dry, rigid task of engineering, for example, becomes more of an art when one approaches it from the right hemisphere.



After college, I put quite a lot of my creative and practical abilities to work gutting and renovating some of the many homes in which I lived. Meanwhile, my work experiences were even more varied than my formal and informal education. Beginning as a sign painter, I've worked in advertising, graphic design, the printing industry, technical writing, commercial photography, video production and post-production, and, as a special highlight, computer animation—the closest I would ever get to the film industry (and, truth be told, it wasn't very close at all).

For several years I was self-employed doing special effects photography. There was no way I could break into the field without a quarter-million-dollar equipment investment, so I set about learning optics and, together with a basic understanding of mechanical and electronic design, built my own motorized four-axis auto-focus special effects camera rig from the ground up, including the film transport—the only thing I didn't fabricate myself was the lens.

Alas my timing was bad, because the film-based special effects photography industry was rapidly being overtaken by the growing availability of affordable computers to do the same. This forced me into computer-based illustration and desktop publishing, which led to a position as marketing manager for a high-tech optical instrument manufacturer, where I had no trouble fitting in thanks to my exposure to many of the principles involved—that, and my insatiable appetite for technology information. (In an alternate universe, if I wasn't a film producer, I might have been in astrophysics, paleontology, or any one of numerous other fields on which I always have an eye.)

After a decade in marketing, I experienced a serious burnout and went through a mid-life career crisis, essentially trying to figure out what I wanted to be when I grew up (the only thing of which I was certain was that it would be anything except marketing). Unemployed and on the verge of bankruptcy, I finally stumbled into a web programming job for a major pharmaceutical company, where I've been ever since. I've also been developing commercial websites on the side, and consequently accumulating an expanding collection of personal websites over the last dozen years.

But how did I ever get into model railroading, and of what relevance are my life experiences? Like my education, it all started at a very early age. My brothers shared a tinplate train set, which I think I played with more than they did, and one Christmas it was upgraded to an HO train set. After my family moved into the central New Jersey area, I was treated to some steam train rides on the Black River and Western. Then, one summer, I discovered Model Railroader magazine, and that, as they say, was that.

Model railroading is a fantastic hobby that's ideal for me since it has always presented challenges that have tapped a great many diverse skills and competencies—carpentry, electronics, mechanics, photography, even artwork—and has done so for over four decades. While I'm certain it would be just as enjoyable if I didn't have the background I do, many of the things I've accomplished would not have been possible if I wasn't something of a Renaissance Man.