Stay Tranquilo - John Lynskey Columbus Legend: Overcoming Adversity, The Columbus Brotherhood, & The Power of Music

Episode Date: December 10, 2024

In the newest Stay Tranquilo Podcast, powered by Stay Tranquilo Network, we are joined by Columbus High School legend John Lynskey.John speaks on:- life at Columbus during his time as a student vs Columbus today- the journey into becoming an educator and leader in the space- the power of the Columbus brotherhood- working with the Allman Brothers- overcoming life's obstacles and the importance of mental health- what it means to "stay tranquilo" Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

My respecter for the math teachers and the science teachers and the calculus teachers, man, if you can teach that stuff, you can teach. Let me put it this way, bro. If you cannot make World War II exciting, you don't belong in a classroom. I was gifted with great subject material to work with. And, yeah, I mean, I worked hard at it. You know, failing to prepare is preparing to fail. So, you know, and I'm glad I recreated myself at 50. People, it was funny, man.

People question me, hey, you could just ride it out and teach Vietnam for the rest and not even try. I said, that's the point. Not even try. You know, it's good to challenge yourself. It's good to do it. I agree. Right. What is going on, everybody?

Today we got a legend. For those who do not know, you'll learn a lot today. But for those that do know, they know Mr. John Linsky is a legend walking from Columbus Hallways for a long time, but this is a honor. I know you've been mentioning that it's an honor, but it honestly is an honor for me to be able to do this. It's something that I've been wanting to do for a very long time. So thank you very much, Mr. John Linsky, for coming on. Andre, thank you, man.

Yes, we have been talking about this for a long time, and I appreciate you calling me a legend. That's a very nice way of saying I'm old, but I'll take it. So, yeah, man, let's have fun. Yeah, let's do this. Stay tight, kilo and have fun. Yes, sir. That's the motto. Well, again, thank you very much for jumping on.

And it's the best way I think to start this conversation today is just rolling straight into some of the history about Columbus High School. To give a little bit of context for those that don't know Columbus, it's a high school here, all boys high school, Maris High School in Miami, Florida. It is a great institution, obviously great school. but it has evolved over the years, to say the least, right? And I want to kind of do a little bit of the history from, you know, when you were there to how it's kind of evolved over the last couple years. But tell us a little bit about what Columbus was like when you were there and how we've seen the evolution of Columbus over the last, you know, 20 years or so.

Well, you know, evolution is the correct word, Andre. Columbus opened in 1958 with 124 kids. I graduated 20 years later in 1978, and we had roughly about 800 students, maybe nine. We were just starting to grow by the end of the 1970s. We had the three primary buildings, A, B, and C. We had the gym, the football field, the basketball courts, you know, and not much else. building, the cafeteria. But we got very lucky in the late 70s into the early 80s where we started to merge academic success with our athletic accomplishments, which we've always been pretty

good in sports. You start marrying those two together and Columbus became a preferred destination for a lot of kids in the 1980s into the 90s. When I was there, we were 19. We were 95% Catholic school kids, period. You went to Epiphany, you went to St. Teresa, wherever, and you went to Columbus. Well, as we expanded and got more successful, we got kids coming in from public schools with very different diverse backgrounds and interest. And so where we are now, we are a completely different campus. We have expanded. We have new buildings. you know, our biggest limitation, Andre at Columbus, is space. We're 19 acres. We have maximized everything.

The only way we can go now is up vertically. And we have done that. Our enrollment is 1,700. We have a waiting list of about 300 kids. Yeah. And we are incredibly diverse now. So many different programs that weren't there, certainly when I was there,

even more than when you were there now. Absolutely. I think what we're proudest of at Columbus is there is a place for every single kid. No matter what your interest, I think we have 75 clubs. We have clubs, I've never even, I don't know what they are.

But if a kid wants something that interests him, you know how like-minded people find like-minded people? That's what goes on now. And so we've got everything for everyone. and although we're kind of capped right now, I still think the sky is the limit for Columbus of what we can achieve. It definitely is.

And I think you brought up something interesting, right? The different walks of life, right? Because the reputation around Columbus is sports, sports, sports. It's been that way for a very long time. And not to take anything away from the sports, because sports are obviously phenomenal there and they continue to evolve and to continue to get better when you don't think there's really much room

for those things to improve, right? but they do. But it is interesting, right, because Columbus has this reputation, yet there is so much more to offer in Columbus outside of just the athletics. You know, Andre, stereotypes die hard. They do. And some things are set in stone, although they're not true. They're perpetuated.

There's certain institutions in Miami, other Catholic boys, high schools that are known as the academic school. Well, the fact is Columbus in the last. 10 years has won more Silver Night Awards than any other school in Dade County, public or private, period. You know, but you don't hear about that the way you should. The Moss Honors Program we have now is the best honors program in Dade County, one of the best in the state, if not the nation. And funny how, you know, imitation is a sincerest form of flattery, right?

Now everybody's got their version of a Moss program. So, you know, the facts are the facts. People can think what they may think, but the facts are the facts. We are just as good academically as we are athletically. And there is a place for everyone at Columbus. And we want diversity, Andres. We are not elitist. We have programs designed for kids to succeed at their level. You know, you're not going to be placed in this class and you either sink or swim. Right. Like, for example, if you're really good. good in history and English, but you're terrible in math and science, okay, fine. You can take advanced, you know, history and English courses and more remedial math and science and, you know, you succeed. We want our kids to see. We want them to go not just to college, you know this, but to the college of their choice. Which is huge. Yeah, it is huge. Yeah. Because you know, you want to be able to provide that opportunity. And I'm not saying that not every school does this, but I think,

exactly how you said it, right? Where your strengths are, Columbus is going to maximize them and where your weaknesses are, they're going to provide an opportunity for you to succeed, even though it may not be your strength, which is, that's cool. That's cool, right? That's not many places I think that offer that. Oh, absolutely. We are very, very proud of that. That is the merest way. We've been that way from the from the very beginning. I mean, I was an AP student in history and English and I was an idiot in math and science. And that's fine. That's where I belonged. And it worked out. You know, I got a education. Yeah. You bring, you bring up a point that I wanted to get to. So what, what was John Linsky like at Columbus while a student? You know, the mid-70s were an interesting time. Things were a lot

different then. It was a pretty, it was a great time to grow up. I would not change when I grew up for anything. I think if you were to ask my friends what I was like, I was pretty quiet unless I was with my boys, with my entourage, then, you know, then it's a little bit different. I didn't, I didn't talk a lot, but I had a great time. I loved my courses. I loved my teachers. I loved my coaches, I couldn't wait to get to school to see what was going to happen that day. And again, Miami in the mid-70s was a tremendous place to be. The Grove was happening. There was so much going on in Miami back then.

If, you know, I guess my high school years, if you've ever seen dazed and confused, I think it was similar. I don't know, along those lines. I recognize some of those characters, put it that way. And what's amazing is some of the guys who taught me are still there. I know. That's insane. Come on, man. Come on.

That tells you a little bit about something about Columbus, right? You just don't want to leave. Like, you always come back. And who, oh, Kevin O'Brien, right? We had him on the podcast that we recorded last week. And he had a quote that he said, Mr. Osses told him, hey if things don't ever work out like you could always come back to columbus and kevin o'brien was like he's probably i think a sophomore at the time he's like i'm not going to end back up at columbus like why

would i go back there and then here he is you know coaching one of the best basketball programs in the country and he's loving every moment of it and doing a great job at it too oh yeah it's it's funny how many roads lead back to columbus as you know we've got 50 alumni teachers at columbus which is you know It's crazy. About 40% of our faculty, and not many places can say that. And right, once you get there, you don't leave. Yep. And if you do leave, they find a way to reel you back.

And, you know, it's a unique place, my brother. So you obviously graduated from Columbus, and then where did you go after Columbus? I went out to my undergraduate work at Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado, where I played football with Mr. Foyle with Fred Foyle. He was my teammate, a great guy, obviously a legend. Then I went to Villanova and I got my master's in history there. And funny how things work out. I knew I wanted to teach. Let me say that. I knew I wanted to teach thanks to a great man, Carter Burr's, who was my very first teacher at Columbus High School within 15 minutes, and I mean this, within 15 minutes of

of my ninth grade first day at Columbus. I said, I want to be this guy. This is what I want to do. I want to teach like him. I want to be here, so I knew that. So I'm wrapping up my master's in history at Villanova. This is 1984. Come down for a visit.

I go to Columbus. The first person I run into is Fred Foil. I hadn't seen him in a few years. Wow. Yeah, I go, what are you doing here? He goes, I work here. I go, you work here? He goes, yeah, man, anybody can work here, you know.

I said, clearly, then he introduced me to this guy walking by name Steve O'Brien. And I said, okay. Yeah, it's like that. So I graduate from Villanova. I actually had a job lined up at Lower Merion High School in Philly where I'd been tutoring. That's where Kobe Bryant went to high school. It was outstanding high school. But I said, you know, I've always wanted to be at Columbus.

So, Andre, you know this. There are certain people in your life, and those moments where door opens, and it's just like it's supposed to be this way. I called brother Edmund Sheen on the phone. He'd been my principal. And this is 1984. There are no cell phones. I'm on a pay phone on Vine Street in downtown Philly, okay?

and there's hookers and hustlers all over this. This is not a great name. I was working on a loading dock for the summer. Brother Edmund answers the phone. I said, brother, it's John Linsky. I just finished my master's at Villanova. I was wondering, do you have any history openings? And there's that long brother Edmund pause.

And he goes, well, John, I assume you want to coach football. We will see you on August 15th. Click. So I'm like, wow. What? What? So I wasn't, man, I called him back. I said, brother, brother, I just, just to make sure I have a job, I'm going to be teaching. He says, I will see you August 15th. Click. Man, the whole thing didn't last 30 seconds. That's crazy. 30. Yes, it is crazy because that 30 seconds changed the next 40 years of my life and the ripple effect of everything that came after that. So yeah, that was it. That was my. interview, bro. That's wild. I mean, that is the most, that's the most Columbus thing I think could happen, honestly. Like, I wouldn't expect it any other way. No, of course not. I mean,

that's, that's Columbus right there. And so, yeah, I got back in the fall of 84 and it went from there, bro. Yeah. And when did the, obviously, one of the most iconic classes when I was there took, took your class was Honors World War II, right? And when did that class begin at Columbus? And tell us a little bit about your approach to teaching that class because World War II will will forever be something that anybody that took that class will have like a special place in their life. Well, I'm glad you asked about that because there's a full circle thing here and it's ironic. When I got to Columbus first year, I taught the basic, you know, ninth grade history and I even taught a typing class even though I can't type, which is also classic Columbus.

I mean, I can type, but not the formal way. But anyway, so I went to the principal, brother Francis Garza. I said, listen, brother, I have a, I got my master's degree in the Vietnam War. I'd be interested in teaching a class about Vietnam. And he said, sure. So for the next 25 years, I taught a class on the Vietnam War. Now, the irony is my favorite thing to study of all time was World War. War II. But in 1984, everybody knew about World War II. Everybody knew about World War II. What they

didn't know about was Vietnam. Because when we lost that war, it was not spoken about. And the kids I had in class were, you know, first or second grade. They didn't know anything about Vietnam. So I saw a need to teach Vietnam. So, and I did. And it was great and I enjoyed it and everything else. But then I was, two things happened. After 25 years, twice a year, I could do it in my sleep. I was bored. I was not challenged anymore. Secondly, by the time you guys were getting into school, the way I used to start the Vietnam class was literally like this. And World War II ended and then this. And then I begin, and you know that Columbus stare. I'd start talking a little about World War II and I'd get that blank empty swimming pool stare of what are you talking about.

Yep. And at first I was taken back. I'm like, you know, World War II, Pearl Harbor, Roosevelt, Churchill, they're like, I said, oh, dear, what you're talking about. Okay, okay. When we don't know World War II, it's time to change because it probably be the most defining event of this country,

revolutionary war, civil war, whatever. But World War II, certainly on the Internet, national scene and kids don't know anything about it. So yeah, man, I was 50. How old was I? I was like right around 50. And I said, I'm throwing out all this stuff. I'm starting new. And when I got you guys, I was still developing that class. But I will say this, those five years I taught that class were the most enjoyable five years I've ever had in a classroom. We had something going on. that was wonderful. You guys made it fun for me.

We appreciated the hell out of it and enjoyed it. And I'll never forget kids that weren't taking that class would leave their classes and come to sit in the classrooms just so they can witness what they were missing because not everyone had that chance to take that class. Yeah. And you know, you asked about my approach. I think every teacher has their own approach.

but as you should. But that being said, I don't care if you're an athlete, a musician, a writer, a teacher, you're going to borrow from other people. You're going to have your influences, okay? And obviously, I wanted to be Carter Burris. But then I had to find my own style.

And I think you'll understand this. I also learned what not to do. For every Mr. Good example, there's Mr. Bad example. And I remember that very clearly saying to myself, I'll never be like that person. And sometimes those are the important things to learn too, not just what you want to do,

but what you're not going to do. Right. And to me, high school history, Columbus, we all want you guys to learn, of course. But I mean, man, it's not the Pentagon. No, it's not Wall Street. street, we're there to have some fun and create memories and build relationships that go beyond the classroom. But yeah, we did learn too. I mean, we absolutely. I mean, we talk about it to this

day about how much we learned in that class versus some of the other classes where, you know, where maybe, I wouldn't say traditional, but how, you know, how you would usually learn and you just sit, take some notes and that's kind of the gist of it. Instead in your class, it was more as like, hey, we're going to have a conversation around this. And because we're having a conversation, we're way more engaged and it's going to be embedded into our minds. And you bring the concept of Burris, right, and how you took some of the lessons from him. I'll never forget, I'm walking on the bridge on the second floor between,

I think it was the A and the B building. And Bert, I'm just walking. I say, good morning to Dr. Burris. And he goes, you know what today is? And I'm like, in my head, I'm like, that's Tuesday or whatever day of the week it was, right? And he's like, no, but do you know what day it is today? And then I'm like, oh, shit, it's December 7th. I'm like Pearl Harbor.

And I'm like, since that moment, I'm like, damn, I didn't have to think about it. Like, I'll never forget that. And for whatever reason, that memory has always stuck in my head because it was something so subtle, yet it's impacted. And it actually had a lasting impact on, you know, just the memorization and a lesson that is an iconic moment that, shit, you maybe ask 100 people, do they know the day of Pearl Harbor? And I'm curious what that statistic looks like. It's scary.

And that was one of the reasons I went to that class. And that's a great moment that you just brought up from Carter Burris to me, to you, back to Carter Burris. Exactly. You know, and teaching was, like I said, my respecter for the math teachers and the science teachers and the calculus teachers, man, if you can teach that stuff, you can teach. Let me put it this way, bro. If you cannot make World War II exciting, you don't belong in a classroom. I was gifted with great subject material to work with. I mean, I worked hard at it.

You know, failing to prepare is preparing to fail. So, you know, and I'm glad I recreated myself at 50. It was funny, man. People question me, hey, you could just ride it out. and teach Vietnam for the rest and not even try. I said that's the point. Not even try. You know, it's good to challenge yourself. It's good to do it. At any. I agree. Yeah. 100%. It's what keeps you sharp. It's what keeps you motivated, right? Because when you kind of, at least this happens with me, you know, kind of get in this routine and the routine gets a little

mundane, right? And it's like, what can I do to kind of shake things up a little bit so that I can build that momentum again and keep that enthusiasm going because it gets it gets redundant and sometimes when you get in that like redundant pattern you lose some of that motivation I couldn't agree more that's perfectly stated and I will say that teaching you guys it was it was different than the other class it was just something about and I don't know how it all came together that we were a team you know there's not that way team concept in there and you know you know maybe I was up there as the leader, but we were a unit. And we learned together, because remember, I was still figuring that class out.

And you guys were great with me. And those are my favorite educational moments, period. Hell yeah, love that. So I want to get into a little bit about the Columbus Brotherhood. Obviously, when you're walking the hallways as a student, you always heard about it. You would always preach about it. O.B. would always preach about it. multiple teachers, coaches, everybody would always preach about it.

But you never really understood what it was until you left Columbus, right? You become an alumni and you get a little bit older and you get a little bit wiser. And then you start attending alumni events and you start engaging with other alumni. Then you start understanding what that brotherhood is, right? How would you define what the Columbus Brotherhood is? It's the links in a chain that stretch out over 65 years. and they get stronger, not weaker as the years go on. And it's something that was instilled from the very beginning.

So I think, you know, you credit the Maris brothers with creating a special bond. I think that we're all boys, certainly a big part of it. And I think that we self-perpetuated because so many alumni do come back. and work there. It goes from generation to generation and to generation. And the school breeds success. And you know this being in the community, there's not six degrees of separation from Columbus. There's one degree no matter where you go. And it doesn't matter. And people think that sometimes we're making this stuff up or we drank the Kool-Aid or whatever. No, you, man, you know, guys got a resume out and he looks down

he didn't notice where you went to you went to Columbus? Do you know so and so? You had him, boom, dumb. Exactly. Locked in. And in all aspects of community, not just in Miami, but around the country, around the world

from the halls of the world. That's the thing that's the most surprising to me. You go anywhere and you're going to engage with someone and you're in a completely different state. And I'm like, this is ridiculous. And there's just this. thing. As soon as you, somebody found out you went to Columbus, it's over. And we take great pride in that. And I also think we take great pride in helping each other. Absolutely. Every, my closest friends are the guys I went to Columbus with. And we all need that three o'clock in the morning.

Oh man, you know, it's hit the fan phone call. I know who I'd call. You know, you know, I, you know, If you got a question, there's a buddy from Columbus that's going to help you. No doubt about that. We're very proud of that. And as big as the school has gotten, you know, and diverse as it's gotten, you know, sometimes you worry, oh, man, it's, you know, 1700 kids now. It's getting too big. Yeah. Listen, it's still there.

And it's one of those things, I think you'd agree with me, that it can't be explained. can only be experienced. And once you've experienced it, I mean, I mean, here we are doing this. Exactly. And it's,

and it's obviously a testament to Columbus, but it's also a testament to the people that come out of Columbus, right? Because, yeah, when I do these podcasts, I always,

my intention is to bring value, obviously, to the listener, right? Very similar to, I'm sure, you know, with your podcast,

with looking back with Linsky, right? There's, there's intentionality behind who you, you bring on. It's not like I'm just going to pick and choose someone, right? There's, there's intentionality. And I look back at some of the guests and obviously there's the Columbus connection, but it's deeper than just the Columbus connection and just, hey, I'm

going to have a Columbus person on the podcast. It's because you have a story to tell. You have something that provides value to the listener. Someone like yourself, we had Fernando Mendoza on. We've had Georgie Lorenzo on, right? Like, we have guys that, that, you know, they have their own personalities, but they also have bred a level of success, which shows some sort of common denominator out of what comes out of Columbus. Yeah, and that is,

there's something in the water because we breed success. And, yes, and for every Silver Knight winner and Moss scholar we have, and they've done tremendously well, it's the,

many times, the lower level kid, the kind of, common sense. Exactly. You know, the one that they can talk a little shit. And has unbelievable confidence in himself, isn't afraid to fail. And in classic Columbus style, just go out there, man.

Whatever. But you see, I think that's it right there, right? Because in a lot of other places, those outcasts and, you know, maybe the, what's the term, you know, a little bit more challenged when it comes to school, right? They're not getting all A's. But they might be a little, exactly, like they might be rubbing the teachers the wrong way or whatever that may be. Columbus almost like embraces that a little bit more than the traditional educational system. Yet here we are looking at the future, right? It's not about just that moment.

It's like I get it. This guy's maybe a little bit of the pain in the ass right now. But it's not going to deter his future, right? Like there's actually power in that. And I think Columbus embraces that extremely well, which empowers some of these people to think like, yeah, I get it. I might have fucked up a little bit when I was. was in school, but I learned from that and I became better from that. You nailed it right there.

We always encourage the kid. And I know this. And this is one of the things I learned when I was young. You never put a kid down and tell him he's never going to be anything. You're never going to succeed. You have no chance. You do the exact opposite. You encourage them.

Sometimes you lie to them, you know, in a good way. Oh, absolutely you're going to be successful. Absolutely. You're going to marry a beautiful woman. I mean, you know, and that's... You got to bring the confidence out. Yes. And I think that is a big part of what we do because our kids are not afraid to fail because

if you're afraid to fail, you'll never succeed. Amen. And you see that everywhere. Absolutely. Yeah, that's it right there, bro. I love it. So let's pivot a little bit away from Columbus. Okay.

I know one of the things that you've been working on for a long time is working with the Almond brothers. So I want to talk a little bit. bit about one, how did you even get into that? And two, how has that experience been like? That's, those are some good questions. As I mentioned, growing up when I did, the 70s, the mid-70s were for me anyway, the classic rock era, the singer-songwriter, man, I couldn't have grown up in a better time. My life consisted of when I was a kid and into a teenage year. reading about history, playing sports, and listening to music. It's what we did. And when a new

album came out, it was a ritual. You know, you unwrapped it and you pulled it out and you put it on the turntable. It was a right of passage. And I was the youngest kid in my neighborhood by a couple years. And I was fortunate in that regard is that when you're, when you're, okay, when you're like our age now, our age difference is irrelevant. But when you're, when you're, you're, you know, 12 and everybody else is 14 or 15, that's a big deal. So I got better at sports real quick because I got my ass kicked all the time by bigger, stronger guys. But they also educated me about music. We go, but you got to listen to this. You got to listen to this. You got to listen to this. So I listen to everything across the board from Ventura Highway by America

to, you know, Black Sabbath, you name it, A to Z, A to Z. But the Almond Brothers, I fell in love with the Almond Brothers. I love their sound. I love their intensity. I love their story of triumph and tragedy and overcoming. And I was fascinated by the creativity and the force of their music. And so while I listened to so many things, they were my favorite. And it was hard to learn stuff back then. You know, there was no Google. There was no Wikipedia. You know, there was three channels and magazines. And so learning was harder back then. But I stayed a fan. They broke up in the 80s. I thought they'd never, never, that was it. They're done. Ninety-nine, they did a reunion tour. It was their 20th anniversary, go out, make some money. That would be it. I got a chance to see them.

at Sunrise Musical in Fort Lauderdale, which is no longer there. It was a beautiful venue. And listen, we all, like I mentioned earlier, sometimes you get that opportunity. I don't remember now. I can't remember now. It's 1989. I knew what their tour manager looked like. I can't remember how I did.

Anyway, I ran into him in the park alone, guy named Kirk West, hippie type, of course. and I said, you're, you're Kirk West. He said, yeah, on my better days, I'm Kirk West. And I had to boost myself. And with that Columbus, you know, whatever, started just talking about the reunion and it's great. And then after a few minutes, he goes, hey, you know a lot. Well, I know a little, you know, and he goes, well, we need people like you because no one in this organization can remember shit anymore. That's literally how I got involved.

because I was a student teacher by trade, and I knew the Allman Brothers like I knew World War II. And he and I stayed in touch. I got involved. I'll make it the short version doing publicity for them. Best thing about being a school teacher is you're off during the summer, eventually got to go out on the road with them, sold merchandise, did publicity help Greg write his book, which was a great experience. That's sick. And got involved with their museum. I'm now, you know, I guess my semi-official title is Almond Brothers historian.

And it's one of the reasons we moved to Macon. And, you know, I'm still teaching. But instead of talking about, you know, the Battle of Bulge, I'm talking about, you know, the at Fillmore East album. But it's the same. And I learned a lot. I learned a lot. And it's funny how my two worlds assisted each other. Exactly.

Education is so regimented. As you remember, I was down to the minutes sometimes. I knew when I had 30 seconds left. And we, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. And, you know, 8 o'clock, 8, 55, yada, yada, yada. Well, you know, rock and roll is a completely different thing. For one thing, it's, you know, With school, you start first thing in the morning.

Well, with the rock band, everything is at night. So ironically, there were times on the road. I would be going to bed at the time I would usually be getting up to go to school. So the fact that it was so unstructured in a lot of ways, my regimented mindset became very useful, someone that can be on time. and because when you're out on the road like that, every day ends in why. And it doesn't matter if it's Monday, whatever, because it's either a show day, a travel day, or an off day.

It doesn't matter. And you need to know what time you need to be where. And when you travel like that in a very tight environment, you have to learn how to get along with people. if you can't get along with people, you will not last. That's so true. You have to learn to get along with people that they don't ever hear or rarely, rarely hear the word no. And, okay, they're rock stars. They've earned that right to be that way, but you still have to do things.

So I learned so much about human behavior and interactions and how to handle people, how to deal with people at a high level that I'd bring it back to the classroom. And you know what else helped? Honestly, a lot of guys in the band and in management, their mothers had been school teachers. So they thought it was actually really cool that I was a teacher. They said, man, we need more people like you in the classroom. So that that little intangible that their mom's school teachers helped me in ingratiate myself with them. So, yeah, I would...

That's a true full, full circle moment, I guess you could say, right? Where here you are, you know, you've become a teacher, you attach your passion that you've had for music, you know, for a lifetime essentially. And then here you are getting this opportunity and connecting the dots with everything that you've learned as a teacher and now applying it as a historian, but on something that you're passionate about outside of,

history and World War II and everything that you're doing on as your day job. That's very well stated. And something else that was true too. I also learned in dealing with teenage boys, you know, there's the, there's the other side to music. Bad behavior happens and you see it happen and you see what it does to people. You can take that back. And when you're dealing with a 17-year-old who's having real issues, you know, you've got something to speak from. You got a little legitimacy in it.

And you know this too. When you're dealing with people like that, you have to conduct yourself in a certain way. And I think everybody gets a chance. It's dangerous to work for your heroes. It's dangerous to meet your heroes. Because sometimes what you think they are and what they are can be two different things. things, but I learned a lot about how to deal with people, how to communicate with people. And, man, I saw all 48 contiguous states.

I went places I never would have gone in my life. I met people I never would have met in my life. All walks of life. Music brings people together. And that I enjoyed immensely. Oh, yeah. So yeah. I mean, that's, I'm sure you have stories for days that can come from from some of those moments.

But that experience in itself must have been amazing. It was. I wouldn't trade it for anything, just like I wouldn't trade what I did at Columbus for anything. Yeah. But yeah, I saw a lot of places, met a lot of people saw things that I never would have imagined seeing, you know. So it's been a good life so far, bro. It has. Yeah.

And I'm glad to be a part of it at some capacity. So something that's extremely important for us in terms of a topic of conversation that we like to bring up is around mental health. So I wanted to just get your overall perspective on how you approach your own mental health, but also, you know, in this journey of life that you've had and some of the obstacles that that we all face, right? Like, we all have our challenges and different walks of life. But how have you kind of approach some of these obstacles that you've faced in your life and approach the mental health component on a day-to-day basis?

You know, you had a very good point. We all have challenges. No one gets out of life unscarred, you know. Everybody has things. Without question, you know, some bad things have happened to my, but the worst. Worst, you know, my daughter passed away in 2017. And that, you know, people say, you know, that's the worst thing that can possibly happen to you. No, it's beyond the worst thing that can ever happen to you.

And it's been known to destroy people's lives. And what I remember, Andre, is having a choice of, Literally that. Did it change me? Yeah, of course it will. There's before and after that. Everybody has before and afters in their lives, okay? But I watched other people who had lost children collapse, you know, and lose themselves.

And I said, that's not going to happen to me. Was it easy? Oh, no. It absolutely was not easy. Is it still difficult? Of course, it's still difficult. Time heals, but you don't forget. But the only way to do it is you've got to find a foundation and mental health.

Because for a while there, it was debatable. You know, so I learned with a lot of help, with a lot of help that, you know, you've got to try. to let go of the past and you need to ground yourself. And the way to ground yourself is some version of faith, whatever faith may be, you know, for some people, just go to Mass every day. That's fine. For other people, it's to be in nature, you know, to do physical exercise. Whatever it may be, you've got to find that. And I have, I've developed a routine. I have a morning routine. I get up early. I start the day quiet. We're fortunate to hear we have a beautiful backyard and got a little area, go out and sit in and just kind of watch the sun come up.

And I think the most important thing I've developed out of that situation was having an attitude of gratitude. Start every day with gratitude. Start every day with something to be thankful for, starting with the fact you woke up. Starting with the fact that you have a job, that you have friends, that you have family, you have a roof over your head. And it's amazing if you start with an attitude of gratitude and go out of your way to thank people, instead of asking people for something, thank people for what they've already done. And that, That has helped me. And I think one way of dealing with a loss like that is to go out of your way to help others.

Maybe it's a compensation for the help maybe we didn't get with our daughter's situation. So your willingness to help others. When you help somebody else, you actually help yourself. Yeah. And mental health is essential to me. There's times when you've just got to, you've got to turn shit off. You know, because your inbox is always going to be full. That list is always going to be there. Yeah. And you probably heard this. When the little things get to you, you try to, and we're all human. We all mess up. But take a step back and say, man, is this going to matter in five years? Is this going to matter in five years? Sometimes the answer is yes, of course, it's going to matter in five years. 99% of the time it ain't going to matter in five minutes, let alone five years, just don't get caught up in it. So I try to stay tranquil.

Honestly, it's funny that you say that because when I started, stay tranquil, it was probably when I was the most confused in my life. Yeah, okay. And it was when I was going through some of the adversity, I guess you could say. say, right, at a young age that I was just confused. I was lost, right? But something in that self-discovery phase of my life where I was just, you know, looking within prayer was very, important to me and faith and just trying to identify like what, how do I get through this, right? Like, how do I overcome this? How do I get through this? And stay tranquil was born from that because I just needed to remind myself, like, stay calm. Everything is going to be all right.

And there's some inspiration from Bob Marley there. There's some inspiration from the Gondis of the world, right? The Buddha, right? There was so much inspiration through my desire to seek and learn more through this because I knew that I was suffering and I was in pain, but I needed to discover how to get through this. And I look back at those moments and I would not have the perspective, I think, on life that I would have now if I didn't go through that.

And when you're in those moments, it's hard to understand that, right? Because you're like, everything's blurry, everything's kind of chaotic, everything's painful. But you do come out stronger from those moments. You do come back with a shift of perspective and how you alluded to, you want to help other people that are suffering and help people that might have experienced something similar in their life. Because now you have that pain to attach to and you're like, okay, I go. I could provide something. I'm not, I'm not an expert. I'm not a pro. I might not have all the answers,

but I understand you. I think that's where compassion comes from. That's where, you know, self-love comes from. There's so many facets that come from pain. And you look at the most successful people in the world, right? And you could gauge success in a variety of different ways, whether that's happiness, financial success, whatever that success is on your radar. But adversity is a common denominator in this. Pain is a common denominator. Suffering is a common denominator. And you kind of need that to shift you up a little bit. And in those moments, you have to embrace it and kind of just see what it is in that moment. But you know that it's not, like you said, it's temporary. And you have to remind yourself that it is temporary. Yeah. When the minute seems like hours, you know, it's hard to believe that. But,

you know, life is just one more passing. show. It's one thing followed by another, followed by another, and whether pleasure you want it to last forever, it never does. Pain you want to go away right now. It doesn't. But eventually, you get there. And I think the key to what you mentioned is you have to enjoy the journey. There's, you know, not ever, the journey is not always going to be a comfortable one. But it's the only journey we have. And so grounding, grounding yourself

in whatever faith may mean to you and taking care of yourself mentally is very important. And that's how I approach things. I love it. You know, it works, bro. It works. And it's important. So I think more people need to understand that

just as much as your physical health is important. your mental health is important and it looks very different than everyone and that's kind of the origin story of stay tranquilo was there's not a one-way fix-all for this right it's like what may work for you may work for me it could come in the form of meditation it come a form of prayer it could be golfing it could be in nature it could be music right it could be comedy i think we all kind of find our you know for lack of a better term tranquilo in a very in a variety of different ways and if there's anything I could be done and I and it's happened you know if I can help one person I feel like I've accomplished my job if I can help 100 people even better if I can help a thousand people

a million people even better right but the reality is it's like we're all here to help each other and we use our pain points to help each other and I admire you and everything that that you've gone through and and the person and the teacher that you've been you know outside of just world war two and history and all that you know the teacher of life that you've been. And I think that's extremely admirable. Thank you, brother. I appreciate that a lot.

The older I get, the more I appreciate that. Maybe we did achieve something. Hell yeah. And that means a lot to me. Thank you, Hunter. Of course. So before we kind of wrap it up here, I got to ask you one, two questions.

One, windows down. You're in your car. It's a beautiful day. What are the three songs you're choosing to listen to? Windows down on a beautiful day, depending on my mood, Ventura Highway by America, which I love that song. Kashmir by Led Zeppelin. I love that song. And let's see.

Number three, you put me on the spot here. Blue Sky by the Almond Brothers. Hell yeah. I figured out one Almond Brothers song after I have been in there. All right. And last question is, what does state? Tranquilo mean to you or what does it mean to stay Tranquilo is a state of mind

And it's a state of mind that you can create and it's I think Stay Tranquilo means don't don't get too up when things are great and don't get too down when things are bad And just stay the course bro just ride it out everything's going to be all right Yes sir That's it for me brother love it all right. All right brother. Well again appreciate your time I was a hell of a time doing this, and hopefully everyone else gets to enjoy this. But thank you again for jumping on and doing this. I really appreciate it.

Thank you for having me, Andre. It means the world to me. You've done a great job. You've done a great job in so many ways, and I look forward to seeing you again soon and continuing our interactions. Yes, sir. Honor to be here, brother. Thank you. Hell yeah.

Appreciate it.