George FranciscoWinston-Salem, NC

I played at college for a few years, joined the Army, drove to the west coast after training, served on active duty for two years from ’72-’74, spent most of the time guarding the high desert of Northern California on the eastern edge of the Sierra Nevada where it meets the Cascades, developed a passion for mountains and the outdoors, drove back across the country to North Carolina, where my son, Alex, was born, had a serious talk with myself about my future and what I expected of myself, tried to put into action some of the standards of Coach Gibbs and Ms. Hamilton - two very different, excellent teachers, whose lessons stuck with me. We were fortunate to grow up in a town with caring teachers who watched over us - thank you J.D. Bartley and Coach Holleman. I returned to college on the GI bill, took my studies in biology and chemistry seriously, drove out and back again to the west for more mountain climbing, worked in heart research, made a decision to do something... went to law school, again with the help on the GI bill, and  the max loan from the College Foundation, trained in securities/equites at what is now Morgan Stanley in Winston-Salem and the twin towers in NY, worked on tobacco and leveraged buyout litigation with a large firm, went west again for more mountain climbing, found the few things I loved to do and focused at becoming good at them, practiced law for more than 35 years as a trial lawyer - most of the time as a sole practitioner - and tried to decision more cases in the courtroom than I can remember and wrote way too many legal papers (trial briefs, appellate briefs, never ending legal arguments) that were supposed to be clear, concise (and grammatically correct). Hence, this change of style to a free-flowing overview of the last fifty years. I’ve lived in Winston-Salem for the last 42 years keeping up with family, career and outdoor sports - rock climbing, mountaineering, kayaking, free solo climbing (stopped that for good reasons) skiing mountains, scuba diving, fly and blue water fishing, hunting, bicycling, riding fast motorcycles, driving fast cars, and loved many boy toys/gadgets, traveled, photographing nature and doing anything else outside. I’m a big college basketball and football fan, and Carolina Panthers fan. 

I married young, divorced, remarried, divorced (ouch), and remarried. I’ve been married to Alyson for more than twenty-six years. She teaches business/finance at Salem College after twenty years in the corporate world with Sara Lee/Hanes Brands. We’ve gone to Oxford University every other year for the last six years with students she takes to England for a course in international business. We will keep going. I like that kind of thing.

My daughter, Megan, was born two years after marrying Alyson. If you ask me about either of my children, I will start bragging. Both finished college and are doing well on their own. Alex has been in the San Francisco Bay area for more than 10 years working with an environmental consulting firm. The downside for me is that California is a long way from North Carolina and he is in the middle of his career. He is 43, married and doing what he wanted to do from age fifteen.  Megan is nineteen years younger than Alex, living and working in Charlotte with a financial software firm and knocking the socks off of the word for her age.

I am blessed to have two great kids. Just as I was to grow up in a small town in northwestern North Carolina at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains with a family of friends for support. It was a great childhood.  I enjoyed it and am thankful. My body will not keep up most of my interests, but my mind will. I closed my law office a couple of months ago.  I’m finishing up the last of my cases and riding my passion for the bull market that began in 2009. I like good food, cooking, good reads, good music, especially live music and am a movie buff. I like the narratives of life. So, here I am, fifty years older and just about as many pounds heavier. The little bit of hair left on my head is gray, but I’m as healthy as sixty-eight years and multiple orthopedic surgeries will permit.  The next chapter in my life? I will be spending a lot of time with my bird dog, Jake, waking up to good coffee, swimming to start the day, and spending the rest with those I love.  I see my mother, my wife, and me in my daughter, and me in my son. That is comforting. My dog is still a wild child, but we work well together at home and in the field.