Blair Davis:
CLASS OF 1972
Portage Northern High SchoolClass of 1972
Portage, MI
Austintown Fitch High SchoolClass of 1972
Youngstown, OH
Blair's Story
I attended Portage Public Schools from 1966-69, so few of you will remember me.
Anyway, my connection to Portage ended in the fall of 1969 when my family moved to Austintown, Ohio.
I moved unwillingly because I loved living in Portage and going to school there. I almost had my folks talked into letting me live with another student's family!
After graduating from Fitch High School, I joined the Navy and rode an aircraft carrier for a year or so, then lived it up in Virginia Beach, Va., while the ship was retrofitted.
After graduating from KVCC, I briefly attended Western Michigan University, then earned my B.A. in journalism at Cal. State - Northridge. I met quite a few celebs as I worked in a Hollywood movie theater for a year; I also appeared as an extra in "The Rose."
My degree helped me land a job at the daily newspaper in Augusta, Maine. Then, after bouncing between a couple of small Michigan dailies, I ended up at the Kalamazoo Gazette, where a co-worker was John Grogan, author of "...Expand for more
Marley and Me". In his 2008 memoir, Grogan had little to say about his Gazette experience.
After the Gazette, I joined the corporate communications department of a Jackson-based, major Midwest utility, where I worked for 19 years.
In 1997, my wife of 15 years died of cancer.
In a cost-cutting move in '03, a corporate bloodbath resulted in 30 of us utility pros being shown the door. The next year my department manager got clipped, and last year my former supervisor -- and a few hundred others -- were "incentivized" to retire.
Since then, I landed a job at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, where I'm still working.
Outside of all of the fun in the workplace, I have successfully summited Mt. Kilimanjaro and Mt. Whitney, and made a summit attempt of Mt. Rainier. In 2014, I trekked to Mt. Everest Base Camp. These adventures grew out of spending too much time in Boy Scouting, of which I'm still a card-carrying member.
Meanwhile, my second wife and I enjoy traveling -- and each other.
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