Douglas Coleman:  

Life My job history began in Siloam Springs where my brother, Butch, and I worked for our parents at the 4-C's Cafe and Motel, washing dishes and so on. I later worked for Foresgreen Construction building the highway bypass, driving a bulldozer and earthmover. After 3 1/2 years at the Univ. of Arkansas, I spent a year in Hawaii, first filing tax returns for H & R BLock, then Passenger Service for Pan American World Airways. In 1965 I returned to the Univ and completed my BSBA in accounting. Not particularly liking the accounting world, I took a position in Marketing with National Airlines and was assigned to Jacksonville, Florida. 3 years later I bought an interest in a travel agency, sold that to open my own agency, sold that, worked briefly for a large travel agency, and then in 1984, formed Coleman Travel Corporation and Coleman Ski Tours, a wholesale tour operator organizing ski tour packages for travel agencies and ski clubs nationwide. I sold my stock in 2004, and now manage our real estate properties in north Florida, and do substantial community benefit volunteer work. I have a son and daughter, and 3 grandchildren, all living in Jacksonville. Oh, you missed the superbowl here in 2006? Too bad, it was a great party. Life's pleasures: aside from family and friends which are most important, my two main interests are painting and sailing. I paint acrylic on canvas and have sold about 15 paintings so far; not making a living but am getting my ego massaged as the dollars come in. We have a Tayana Vancouver 42 sailboat which my wife and I sailed from Jacksonville to France in 1999. We store the boat for the winter and return each summer for an extended cruise. We have sailed to Ireland, England, the Channel Islands (guernsey), Belgium, Holland, Germany, Denmark, Sweden and Norway where our boat is currently stored in a hanger in the village of Risor, about 100 miles west of Oslo. Our next grand adventure (we just returned from a spectacular trip to Antarctica last month) will be to sail back to Germany, truck our boat overland to Nurnberg, Germany, and motor down the Danube River through Austria, Hungary, Slovakia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania, the Black Sea, and on to Istanbul, Turkey. From there we will sail for several years in the Mediterranean and eventually sail back to Florida. By then I should be ready for a viking funeral (my own) where my remains are placed on my ship which is sailed to sea and burned. Just kidding, my wife wouldn't burn the boat. Jan 7, 2009, update. Mary and I have now completed the a...Expand for more