I was born in Martinsville, Virginia in 1950. I grew up in Staunton,
Virginia, where I lived from 1963 to 1981. Staunton is an abiding place
and has celebrated its 250th anniversary. It is the quintessential
hometown celebrated through the songs of its best known hometown
heroes, the Statler
Brothers. Staunton is also the birthplace of
President Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924) and is the home of the famous
Stonewall Brigade Band which I
have enjoyed on many pleasant summer Monday evenings in Gypsy Hill Park.
I am a graduate of Davidson College
(1973) and have graduate degrees in history (Virginia Tech)
and librarianship (University of
Chicago). I have held positions as a
professional librarian at the State
University of New York at
Oswego (1982-1985); Spring Hill
College in Mobile, Alabama (1985-1986);
Stratford Hall
Plantation, birthplace of Robert E. Lee (1986-1992); and
Washington and Lee University (1993-present). I have been very fortunate
to be associated with Robert E. Lee in my professional life. I have
worked at his birthplace - Stratford Hall - and his final resting place -
Washington and Lee - and I love both places. During my Staunton years I
graduated from Robert E. Lee High School (1969).
I live in Buena
Vista, Virginia. Buena Vista (home of Southern Virginia
University) has a
lovely location
at the base of the Blue Ridge Mountains and has developed a reputation
since the early 1890s for its good people, state championship football teams
and gritty determination in the face of adversity. It survived the
catastrophic flooding following Hurricane Camille in August 1969 and many
other notable bouts before and since with high water in the Maury River and
its feeder streams.
Buena Vista
(our former General Store)
I am married to Margaret Elizabeth Gillie Stanley (1959-present), known
as
Tad. Tad is a Registered Nurse at the Washington and Lee University
Student Health Center (since 1993). She is a graduate of the University of Mary Washington
and the Medical
College of
Virginia. She loves Virginia, big water, quilting, our offspring and me.
Tad and I are the parents of Thomas
Crockett Stanley (born September 29,
1990), William Vaughan Stanley (born July 4, 1996), and Margaret Patricia
Gillie Stanley (Matty - born July 23, 1999). Thomas is a 2009 graduate of Parry McCluer High School. Will,
born in the Shenandoah Valley at Augusta
Medical Center, is busy carving
out his niche in life. Will, who loves people in general, is thirteen years
old and is a eighth grade student at
Parry McCluer Middle School. Our daughter, Matty, was born in
Fishersville at Augusta Medical Center and looks very much like her two
brothers as she occupies a unique place in all our hearts. Matty is ten and is in the fifth grade at Parry McCluer Middle School. She loves her
giant Teddy bear and Sponge Bob Square Pants. She especially loves her pet rabbit, Peanut.
Will Stanley age 2 days
We attend the Buena
Vista Presbyterian Church, home of very caring
people in Rockbridge County and one of the best Vacation Bible Schools around. I
am an Elder and have served a three year term on the Session of
our church. I am also a liturgist.
My mother, Patricia Meighan Stanley Eastman Powers (1930-2002) was a
graduate of Eastern Mennonite University. She was a
Registered Nurse (BS in Nursing) and a realtor. My mother was born and
raised in Birmingham, Alabama and my parents were married there in
1949. She is buried in Thornrose Cemetery in Staunton. My father, Clyde
Vaughan Stanley, Jr. (1924-1966), was a physician,
master Mason, and lover of Virginia and the Civil War. He was a
graduate of Virginia Military Institute, Class of 1945. He is buried in
Oakwood Cemetery in Martinsville, Virginia. My sister, Marian
Walker Stanley Moore Wilkinson (1953-1992), was a teacher, an actress,
and one who was beloved by many. She held degrees from Mary Baldwin
College and James Madison University. She was the mother of two sons,
Daniel Walker Moore (1980-present) and Joseph Meighan Moore
(1983-present). She is
buried in Thornrose Cemetery in Staunton. My sister, Margaret Meighan
Stanley Wood (1952-present), is the Alumnae and Development Director for Stuart Hall, a
preparatory school in Staunton of long historical pedigree. She is the
mother of Marian Winsor Wood (1985-present). My brother,
William Crockett Stanley (1957-present), is employed by the University of Virginia Health System. He is the father of Samuel Crockett
Stanley (1991-present) and Kinzie Walker Stanley (1993-present).
I am a past member of the Lexington
Rotary Club and current member of the Rockbridge
Historical Society and have served on the Board of Directors for both. I
write
book reviews for CHOICE, a review publication of the American Library
Association. I am a member of the Society for Commercial Archaeology
which is dedicated to preserving America's culture through its
distinctive twentieth century commercial architecture.
I am a member of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR). I cannot adequately describe how much I love baseball. It is a game, a
culture, a religion, a way of life. I became a fan during the sixth game
of the 1958 World Series between the New York Yankees (still my
favorite team) and the Milwaukee Braves. I was seated with my mother at
Kirby's
Restaurant in Collinsville, Virginia. My life has not been the same
since. My advice to anyone is this - if you want to be truly happy in
your life, develop a love for the game of baseball. Baseball, among its
many virtues, is a great father-child game. My wife, children and I
regularly
travel to the Carolina League
games of the Lynchburg
Hillcats and Salem
Redsox. And, when God is with us, we
sometimes go to the memorable Camden Yards in Baltimore to see the Orioles
and the great Cal Ripken.
My favorite baseball player of all time is Lou Gehrig
(1903-1941) of the
New York Yankees. He was for me the epitome of great baseball talent and
great, gentle class as a human being.
Lou Gehrig
My hobby is collecting children's books especially juvenile series
books. I love old copies of the Hardy Boys, Tom Swift, the Rover Boys
and the Bobbsey Twins. I spend more money than I should on acquiring
these volumes but take immense pleasure from it.
My family and I love old-time
Appalachian mountain music and are devotees
of the annual Galax Fiddlers Convention and other similar events. Galax,
home of my ancestors, correctly styles itself as the "World's Capital of
Old Time Mountain Music" and visiting there each year during the second
weekend in August is always a highlight of our year. Take a look at the
home page for the 74th annual Galax Fiddlers
Convention on August 3-8, 2009.
I keep a daily journal. I love history and find other people noteworthy
and fascinating. I like to be an historian of everyday events that I
observe.
I love Elvis Presley (1935-1977). In 1988 I suddenly realized this and
was sorry I hadn't come to appreciate "The King" earlier. I have visited
Graceland in Memphis and his
birthplace in Tupelo.
Though it doesn't pay
to over-analyze this phenomenon, part of why I love Elvis is that his rise
to fame coincided with my growing up. I have discovered that many others
share my love of the great man of American music. He had a great voice
and a memorable persona and the culture of Elvis is quintessentially
American.
The King
My favorite outdoor activity is walking and most especially hiking the
Appalachian Trail. I have
hiked all of the A.T. in Virginia and have
covered continuously a 691 mile stretch from northeastern Tennessee to
central
Pennsylvania. Other mountain favorites of mine have
included Mount Washington in New Hampshire, Camel's Hump in Vermont, Mount
Katadhin in Maine, Mount Marcy in New York's Adirondacks and Grandfather Mountain and Mount
Mitchell in North Carolina.
Summit of Mount Rogers, Virginia's highest point
I love movies. I love good movies like those of Woody
Allen, Akira
Kurosawa, and the Coen Brothers. And I also love movies like those I
have seen at Hull's Drive-In
near Lexington. Hull's is one of the last
drive-in theatres in Virginia and is one of Rockbridge County's
treasures. Thanks to Hull's Angels Hull's has been re-opened in July
2000. When I want to stay at home I have a large
collection of
films on video from which to choose. Woody Allen (whose next film is
"You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger")
is my
ultimate favorite though my taste in general is highly eclectic.
Woody Allen
My family and I love all things Scottish. I recommend the Williamsburg
Scottish Festival held the fourth Saturday in September each year just
outside Virginia's colonial capital. The bagpipes, the Scottish tartans,
and the food and drink make the trip worthwhile. While on the subject of
Williamsburg,
one of my favorite places, I highly recommend the Virginia
Shakespeare Festival, held every July at Phi Beta Kappa Hall on the
campus of the College of William and Mary.
Visiting the gravesites of
American presidents is a favorite activity of
mine for historical field trips. Living in Virginia gives me a good
head start on this hobby. Currently I have been to 35 presidential
gravesites with the remaining three on my long term agenda.
Theodore Roosevelt and family/Tad and Abe Lincoln
In 1997 my family and I took a great vacation to Texas and surrounding
states. We loved the Texas Hill Country and San Antonio. We saw Dealey
Plaza in Dallas and the Alamo and River Walk in San Antonio. We saw a
baseball game in the Astrodome. Texas is full of beautiful wildflowers
and the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Research Center in Austin
highlights this virtue.
