Betty Sampson:  

Life Highlight Reel: Born at 7362 feet above sea level. Only child. Graduated FLC, then grad school Austin then Malibu Spilled chocolate malt on Academy Award Lived next door to Bob Dylan. Married 3 times – divorced twice. Have 1 daughter who raised a great parent. Worked as TCP/IP geek from 1995 to 2003. Husband from Aspen where we spend much free time. We sail (hubby sailed San Diego to Tahiti 1980) and husb does Search and Rescue esp. likes rock climbing. Mostly retired although still do technical writing. Noteworthy acceptance by 22nd United States House of Representatives Majority Leader and presidential Candidate Rep. Richard Gephardt (D-MO) of my white paper on "Tier III Broadband Communications in Southwest Colorado" which became part of DNC's platform with the assistance of Congressman Ed Markey (D-MA). OK here are the finer details: My parents were married 20 years before I was born in Kremmling, CO. I lived in Granby, CO when I was a baby ... Olympic skier Buddy Warner used to baby-sit me. Went K-7 in Berthoud CO where my father's family homesteaded. Family goes back to the late 1870's there. At one time I had over 70 relatives within a 45 mile area. In 1967 moved to Durango, CO and attended Miller Jr Hi and Dgo High School. Did a lot with journalism and Grandioso singers and theater. Philip Carlyon also got me active in teaching Head Start swimming and working w/ "Up With People." Went to Ft Lewis Col and worked part time at the Assay Office where I learned to play a killer game of backgammon and make a great strawberry daiquiri. Was married for 2+ years in college, divorced '76. After graduation FLC '77 (English BA + secondary teaching certification) I moved to Austin TX for grad school. Lived in a 4BR house w/ 14 musicians so learned more about 6th street Austin than about socio economic linguistics. Boyfriend was from Malibu - family had an empty condo near the Colony so we left the humidity of Austin (and grad school) for the humidity of Zuma Beach. His father lived next door to Bob Dylan at Point Dume and his mom lived in the Colony so we spent a lor of time there. Got a job working for a personal manager (“the star making machinery behind the popular song”) on the corner of Bedford and Wilshire (2 blocks off Rodeo) in Beverly Hills. Only 3 of us in the office and one day we saw the Hotter Cattle truck go down Wilshire Blvd.!! :) Spent most of my time working on contracts and frontline triage etc. for Shaun Cassidy (who had just released his hit single Da Doo Ron Ron and was doing Hardy Boys TV). David Cassidy was especially kind and interested in hearing about small town Durango. (And yes, he is as cute in person as he was in his Tiger Beat poster... but short!) My biggest claim to red-faced fame was the day I spilled a chocolate malt on an Oscar (Academy Award). It belonged to George Chakiris for West Side Story… I was talking with my hands and – oops! Met a number of “stars” and got to know a few quite well. Started a tradition of French toast brunch with Rod Steiger (On the Waterfront) every Saturday at Malibu Coffee Shop. Family health brought me back to Durango where I worked at the Dgo Herald. It was great to be back in the mountains and I rarely miss my “life in the fast lane” Entourage days. Got job at Dgo Herald where I met second husband. We were married 8+ years and had a daughter who was 6 when we divorced. I worked for Four Corners Environmental Research Institute (FOCERI) on the Mill Tailings Removal study and then setting up an ofc for Northstar – a high end stereo importer where I spent my days on the phone to France, Australia and the UK. Joined Frontier Internet as 2nd employee where I started as a tech, promoted to head of tech over a staff of 22 in 3 offices and eventually became VP of communications for Nyhl Henson (founder of Nickelodeon TV and co-founder MTV) whose company b...Expand for more