Stories from the Center of the Universe

Episode 172: Ross Luck

Paul, Rob and Ross Luck have been friends since childhood. Ross grew up just outside the Ashland limits and growing up, he spent time going to Kings Dominion (later worked there) and the Hanover Country Club. He told Paul and Rob about playing a lot of sports growing up including a story about a little league baseball match up versus Paul. Ross said he had a couple hobbies growing up one which was a game he played with Rob when they were 10-11 years old. Ross played basketball and football in high school at Patrick Henry and he and Paul talked about some of his teammates. Ross attended the University of Richmond and told the stories of some of the great Spider basketball upsets as well a story or two about being in a fraternity at UofR. Ross majored in Business and after he and his dad Jack (Episode 139) talked, Ross joined the family business at Luck Motor Company in Ashland and has been there thirty-two plus years. We finished the podcast with Ross telling us about his family and we discussed playing 35+ Rec Basketball together and all the unique nicknames we had on the team.

Episode 171: Kevin Mills, Part 2

Kevin Mills is back for Part 2. Paul and Kevin finished the story about Kevin being diagnosed with a tumor. Kevin went into detail about finding out about the tumor, the surgery and the first thing he said when he woke up. They talked about him going to college at VCU, what he majored in, sitting for the LSAT, but having a change of heart about what he wanted to do for a career. He is twenty-three (23) years into his career as a Richmond City Police Officer. He has been in patrol, special drug and gun units and has been a detective and K-9 handler. Kevin talked to Paul about many of these assignments and how overall, he has enjoyed his career. He told Paul a few stories including one where a guy, who was much larger than Kevin, tried to take his weapon. They talked about what is was like having a dog for a partner and Kevin’s narcotics dog, Sarik. They finished by discussing his fondest memories so far as an law enforcement officer, what his plans are after retirement and his family, especially his kids Peyton and Erin.

Episode 170: George Monroe

George Monroe knows Paul and Kevin from when they worked at the Bakery. George lives in Hanover, but grew up in Albemarle and Charlottesville. While in Albemarle, he grew up on a farm where he said he learned the value of hard work. He then moved to Charlottesville and later went to Charlottesville High School where he played football and ran Track. He also told a funny story about how he almost played Lacrosse. He went to Lynchburg College to run Track and he discussed that things were going well until an incident occurred and he ended up leaving Lynchburg. George then went into the United States Marine Corps and after that, he came home to Charlottesville. He later moved to Richmond where he attended Virginia Union and received some help from a legendary coach at VUU. Through the next couple of years, he got his degree, became a single dad and got the job at the Bakery. They finished by talking about some history that George has done research into as well as him coming back to discuss his genealogy which he has traced back to the late 1700’s.

Episode 169: The Boogie Woogie Man

Jimmy “The Boogie Woogie Man” Valiant joins Paul and Kevin on the podcast and he started off with a bang! Jimmy was born in Tullahoma, TN and just turned 80 years old a couple of weeks ago. Before he could remember, his family moved to Hammond, IN where his father took a job as a millwright at a Ford plant. Jimmy’s career in professional wrestling has taken him all over, but he has called Virginia home for the last thirty-one years. Jimmy played baseball and football growing up, but also started lifting weights and spending a lot of time in health clubs/gyms. Jimmy talked with Paul and Kevin about his training, mentors, jobs, raising a family and his wrestling bouts over the years. Jimmy discussed how he re-invented himself throughout his career and how he was the first to come out for a match to music. Jimmy talked about his wife Angel, how they met and their blended family. He finished by inviting all SFCOTU listeners to come meet him at Boogie’s Wresting Camp and Hall of Fame in Shawsville, VA any Sunday at noon.

Episode 168: Daninelle Derricott

Dani Derricott is from Ashland, went to Patrick Henry and told Paul and Kevin the story about “the trail” as an alternate way to get to school. As a younger kid, Dani talked about how they played all day and he was always playing sports against the older kids which made him tougher and better at the same time. He had a major change in his life at 10 years old and was playing basketball and football. He later had to make a choice and he decided to focus on football. The 1994 Patrick Henry football team is still the only state football champion from Hanover County and Dani was instrumental as the QB and as a DB for that team. Several big schools were interested in Dani, but Dani didn’t have the grades. After a year in the Fork Union Post Grad school, Dani went to Marshall University where he was a standout player and was inducted into the Marshall Athletic Hall of Fame in 2016. He played with (and against in practice) one of the greatest NFL receivers of all time at Marshall. Dani had a very successful six year career in the Canadien Football League and was on two Grey Cup (championship) teams. Dani finished by saying how grateful he was for everything in his life and talked about his future plans and his children.

Episode 167: Kevin Mills, Part 1

Kevin Mills and Paul know each other from their time in the National Guard together. Kevin grew up in Ashland (Paul did know his older brother) and he told Paul he did all the normal running around a kid would do, but also mixed in a lot of motorcycle riding. Kevin’s dad was former military and his brother was in the military when he graduated high school. Kevin decided he would do the same and he and Paul talked about his unique recruitment process, what he wanted to do and what he ended up doing. After his active duty time came to an end, he went to college and joined the National Guard. He had to leave the Guard due to a medical diagnosis - a brain tumor. Kevin ended Part 1 by telling Paul the type of doctor (not what you would expect) that discovered the tumor and the story of the diagnosis and the treatment.

Episode 166: Tony Tran

Tony Tran comes to the podcast through Mike DiMaggio who he went to school with and Paul knows Mike via a family connection. Tony and Paul talked about many things, but started with an amazing survival story for Tony and his family. Tony is from Vietnam and he and his family had to escape during the fall of Saigon. They discussed the memories he had before they left and the amazing journey they went on to get to the United States. Tony gave deep reverence to his parents and the way he and his siblings were raised. He told Paul about the culture change of coming to the USA and about growing up in the Chicago suburbs. Tony went to the University of Illinois and he and Paul talked about jobs he had and his career in software engineering. Tony dropped a couple of his keys to success during this part of their conversation. He told Paul what he has done and what he enjoys doing in his retirement which includes spending time in Barcelona, Spain. The way Tony talked about Barcelona, Paul declared that a visit there is now on his bucket list!

Episode 165: Buck Sessoms, Part 2

In Part 2 of the podcast with Buck Sessoms, Paul and and Buck talked about his deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. Buck told Paul the differences between deployments and some of the stories of what he and his fellow troops did while overseas. Buck then discussed one of his next assignments which was becoming a pilot for HMX-1. This is better known to most as being a pilot for the President of the United States and flying one of the “Marine One” helicopters. They talked about the rest of his time in the USMC, the subject of PTSD, what he would now tell his sixteen year old self and what he is currently doing for work. They finished by talking about some of his favorite SFCOTU podcasts, golf and his wife, Jackie and their daughter, Amanda. 

Episode 164: Buck Sessoms, Part 1

Buck Sessoms and Paul graduated from St. Christopher’s together and share a common bond in that they both served in the United States Military. In Part 1 of this podcast, Buck tells Paul how he got his name and they talked about his fondest memories of St. Christopher’s. They talked about him attending VMI, the brutal first year as a “rat” and how he lacked motivation and was on some form of probation most of his first two and a half years there. Buck said he found the motivation and new levels of desire and maturity in his last two years at VMI and mentioned that his education at St. Chris was a key to his latter college success. Buck joined the United States Marine Corps in 1992 and they discussed his USMC career and how he first served as an enlisted Infantryman and later became a helicopter pilot and an officer. Part 2 will be released Thursday.

Episode 163: Dr. David Jones

Dr. David Jones and Paul haven’t talked in quite some time, but they went to St. Christopher’s together and graduated in 1987. David, who Paul said is one of the nicest guys he has known, grew up on the north side of Richmond and later in the Midlothian area. David, who is one of six siblings, played tennis at St. Christopher’s and was a captain his senior year. David knew early on that he wanted to be a doctor. His dad and other family members were doctors and he and two of his siblings became doctors. Paul and David talked about his schooling which included being a “Cameron Crazy” at Duke during his undergrad years. They discussed how his residency was great, but was also a culture shock. They finished by talking about how David ended up in Atlanta, what has kept him there and his husband, Michael.