Looking for a Super Guy

One of the many things i’ve done while hopping and hopping around in not-quite careers since i retired (that is actually completed my active duty Navy service, not retired) was as the business manager of a military contracting company, that morphed into parts of other companies three times while i as there just shy of five years. A previous business manager described the job as “selling smoke.” He wasn’t too far off.

Through the aegis of my friend since 1979, Pete Toennies, i joined the bunch after i asked help in finding my brother-in-law a job, which Pete did. i met some folks whom i still hold in high esteem.

There was Bob Ellis, who remains one of the smartest men i’ve known, a retired E3 pilot, who had incredible energy for his job, worked in difficult circumstances to win contracts against impossible odds in spite of some boot lickers between him and top management (and so, that organization finally got rid of him and suffered, losing all sorts of work. Still a terrific friend.

A bunch of other dedicated and talented people too many to list here.

But there’s this guy who was the genius in graphics design. For one contract proposal, Walker turned me into a hologram like Princess Leia. He not only was a multi-graphics wizard, he created magic.

Walker Hicks is more than magic. Like i said, he’s a wizard. He left that company shortly after i left and became the marketing manager, the art director , and the creative art director at Cali Bamboo, primarily a bamboo flooring company. He did this while running a whole bunch of creative projects on his own.

A a bunch of years ago, i was trying to compile a bunch of old 8mm family films into a long DVD. Remembering Walker’s talents i asked him if he could help. Well, Walker didn’t help. He took it on big time. His set up was archaic, capturing the movies running on an old 8mm movie projector on video, turning it into a DVD with music. Remarkable. i gave copies to a bunch of family members for a Christmas gift. They loved them.

This project led to Walker capturing family photos from the late 1800’s into digital images. Once again perfection was achieved.

Then, i began my website. Walker has been there from the beginning. He has done all of the design and graphics. He set up and then instructed me how to use the app for posting my stuff. He has continued to be remarkable in giving me help, patiently going through procedures when improved changes were made, and constantly making it all work.

Walker has become a great friend. His wife Marcie is a beautiful woman, talented in her own right and a success in a number of different ventures including graphic design. Their son Bryton is six months younger than my grandson and a fine talent in volleyball. Their dog Remi is a treat.

Recently when i was at Walker’s working on marketing my book and improving the website, Walker told me of acquiring some equipment to better and more efficiently create videos of old movies. They are an upgrade from the process he used making my DVDs.

If you have a bunch of old family movies and want to have a more permanent version you can watch on your video equipment, i would most strongly recommend you contact Walker. If you don’t believe me, below is a small section of the videos he made for me. These are mostly of my Uncle Bill’s family from Florida, visiting the Smokies with my aunt, Bettye Kate, and i’m betting the filming was done by my Uncle Snooks. The last portion is a goofy guy, Martha and Joe at Christmas. Joe, is the one who looks sort of like Dangerous Dan McGoo with that rifle.

If you would like to contact Walker about your movies or any other potential multi-media projects, i strongly recommend you do. He’s the best.

And he’s a great friend.