Stories from the Center of the Universe

Episode 205: Helen Emerson

Helen Emerson is the co-owner of Rosie Connolly’s Pub in Richmond, Virginia. Born in England, Helen moved to the United States when she was 8 years old. She talked to Paul about leaving a big family, the move itself and the culture shock once they got to the U.S.A. They discussed the Pub, horses and her families … her actual family and her Pub family.

Episode 204: Lily Cameron

Lily Cameron was born in Iran, but moved to the U.S. when she was very young. Paul and Lily talked about her family’s emergency exit from Iran during some tumultuous times. They discussed her education, career path and the amazing volunteer work she does in the community.

Episode 203: Bill Jones

Bill Jones, aka BBQ Bill, joins Paul and Kevin on the podcast and they covered a variety of subjects. Bill grew up on a farm in Shortpump “before it was Shortpump”. They talked about Bill’s childhood, softball, his career and being a BBQ cook and judge. He finished by talking about his wife Mary and their son Lee.

Episode 202: Virgil Gray

Virgil Gray and Paul served together in the Virginia Army National Guard. They talked about how Virgil grew up in two very different places, various experiences they had in the Guard and jobs he had after he retired from the National Guard. Virgil finished by telling Paul about being really retired, his wife Becky, their kids and their five grandchildren.

Episode 201: T Bell

Theron Potter Bell IV, aka T Bell, and Paul have known each other since 8th grade when Paul started at St. Christopher’s. They talked a lot about baseball and about two tragedies in T Bell’s life and how he made it through them. They also talked about his family and some changes he has made in his life over the last few months.

Episode 200: Mary Crutchfield

Mary Crutchfield has led a “varied” life.

Mary is from Trenton, New Jersey, but from about age eight until twenty-one, she was living all over the world. Her parents were missionaries and Mary and her family lived in Kenya, Tanzania and the Philippines. Paul and Mary discussed her life abroad including her education and the fact that she had Malaria seventeen times! Mary moved back to the United States when she was twenty-one and she talked with Paul about her re-integration to life back in the states. She told him how she was lucky to have so many people help her including her aunt which led her to settling in Virginia. Mary is a Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner and opened her business Leva Psychiatry about five years ago. She and Paul discussed mental health in general, the way she treats her clients and the crisis calls that were rampant during Covid-19. They finished the episode by Paul asking Mary some questions about mental health and with her telling him a little more about her family.

Episode 199: Margie Howell

The podcast went on the road (with a special guest) to Charlottesville, Va. this week to talk to Margie Howell. Margie grew up on a dairy and beef farm in Bedford County, Va. near the area that is now best known for Smith Mountain Lake. She had typhoid fever when she was 10 and admittedly said was lucky to have survived. She attended Mary Washington and UVA and received a Bachelor of Science in Nursing. She met husband Nat Howell at a conference and that would start them on an adventure neither expected. Nathaniel Howell would start a career with the Foreign Service that would eventually lead to a call from President Reagan to be the U.S. Ambassador to Kuwait from 1987- 1991. Nat was the ambassador during Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait in 1990. During Nat’s twenty-six year foreign service career, Margie raised their two boys Chip and Edward, completed a masters degree and was a college professor. Paul said at the end that Margie had lived a fascinating life! They finished by talking about her family and how she is working on establishing an endowment in Nat’s name at the University of Virginia where he taught for 22+ years.

Episode 198: Rob Owens

Rob Owens has known the occasional cohost Kevin Flippen for 30 years and also knows Paul from working together. Rob and Kevin met playing pick up basketball and now share a passion for the game of golf. Rob grew up in northern Virginia and played the three major sports. They discussed the positions he played in high school and how he almost tried out for the Hampton University basketball team. They talked about his dad who was a 20+ year veteran of the DC Metro Police Department and Rob’s love for travel. Rob also took voice classes and dabbled with the idea of using his voice to make a living. He described his love of jazz and told us how he met his wife, Darlene. They ended by Rob apologizing to Paul for an incident at the original wiffle golf tournament.

Episode 197: Skyler Allen

Skyler Allen joins the podcast via a connection with Kenny Wingle (Episode 79). Skyler grew up in Hanover County and said his Mom’s side of the family has deep roots in Hanover. He played lots of sports growing up, but he knew at an early age that football was his passion, his best sport and that he wanted to play in college. He went to Atlee his freshman year and then went to Fork Union Military Academy (FUMA) where he started for three years and earned multiple all state honors on both sides of the line. Paul and Skyler talked about his overall experience at FUMA especially one that he was afforded as an officer his senior year. They discussed where he wanted to play college football, why it didn’t work out and how he ended up playing at Ohio University. Despite a fluke injury he suffered while he was playing in the Independence Bowl, he became a priority free agent for the NFL’s Detroit Lions. After that, tryouts in the NFL, CFL and even a call from Italy, he was at peace with his football career coming to an end. They also talked about his favorite NFL team and his new obsession … golf. They finished by talking about Skyler’s wife, Abby, and their children, Cooper and Peyton.

Episode 196: George and James Monroe

Paul and Kevin welcome back George Monroe to the podcast. George (Episode 170) joined the first time to tell his story and returns to tell the story of his family history. Paul started with a question of when George started to understand and question his family’s history. George said he was young, but that the subject was not discussed very often amongst the adults. Over time, George has become the griot for his family and he will probably pass that on to one of his kids who has the same curiosity and interest as his dad. George, Paul and Kevin discussed interviews, articles and speeches that George has been a part of as well as what he hopes to accomplish in the next six to twelve months. They also talked about some modern day topics and they wrapped up with Paul inviting George back and George thanking Paul and Kevin for the platform to tell his family’s story.