Reid Fitzsimons brief bio:

Raised in the Washington, DC area suburbs, spent 25 years in the northern NY Adirondacks, currently resides in northeastern Pennsylvania; otherwise have lived in Laramie, WY, Cleveland, OH, very south Alabama in the US along with Guatemala, Kenya, and Honduras

Non-career related jobs as a young adult included janitor, waiter,  and newspaper delivery (Laramie, WY Daily Boomerang); middle-aged included middle school substitute teacher, disk jockey classic rock station (Radio Lake Placid, NY), and home remodeling

Attended five different college or universities accumulating five years of credits; certificate in Practical Nursing (LPN) and AAS- Physician Assistant (PA), licensed as a PA in NY State 1983 (stopped renewing license in 2009)

Health care related paid positions included ward clerk and orderly in a nursing home in Wyoming; LPN and orthopedic technician in a Washington, DC area hospital; PA US Dept. of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons 1982-1986; PA New York State facility for developmentally disabled people 1986-2001

Military service in either the Army National Guard or Army Reserves, two periods between 1975 and 1994; first enlisted as a Private E-1 (medic), highest rank obtained Chief Warrant Officer 3 as a PA; honorable but completely unremarkable service, never once ordered to active duty

“Third World” experience began in 2001 with 5 ½ months in Guatemala, primarily in a volunteer medical capacity; 11 months as the volunteer medical director of an outpatient clinic in remote western Kenya 2002-2003; 2004 to present co-founder, co-director (with wife Patricia) of a children’s and community center in rural Honduras called Las Sonrisas de los Niños (www.lasonrisa.info), this has been operated in sessions alternating periods in the US and periods in Honduras

Extracurricular experiences have included one term as the elected president of a New York State public employees union local 1999-2001, obtaining my private pilot’s license in 1990 (with Barry King as my flight instructor, see below), open water SCUBA certificate 1996, and a one-time civilian static line parachute jump in 1988

Barry says:

I have German ancestors but grew up in Pennsylvania, immersed in “Pennsylvania Dutch” culture. At age 19 I went to work in Kenya, and have been moving around a lot since then. My four children did most of their growing up in northern New York’s “Adirondack” region, but they’re all adults now and I’m back in Africa, working in Kajjansi, Uganda for www.flyuganda.com .  I work in aviation, doing either flight or maintenance, but I’m currently focusing on maintenance. My religious identity is Christian. I have lived in Africa long enough now to feel somewhat African myself, which will no doubt influence my thinking and writing on this blog.  barryking3(at)gmail(dot)com