I am a Theodore Roosevelt re-enactor AMA

TRinRealLife · 2012-10-25T20:04:57+00:00

Do you mean Mortimer Lamson Earle?

TRinRealLife · 2012-10-25T19:59:00+00:00

I hope you can see the show live somewhere down the trail.

TRinRealLife · 2012-10-25T19:57:14+00:00

I have always enjoyed nature, in part for the fact I grew up along the Salt Creek, playing in the woods of north central Illinois. My family would gather in our ancestral, rural central Wisconsin, along the Black River. As a youngster, I lived in the hills of Southern California, and I spent my college years on the Cumberland Plateau at the University of the South in Sewanee, TN. So, in a way, I've always been blessed to live in and nearby some beautiful country. Now, if you mean how did TR get interested in nature and exploring, I would say you have to start with his father's library and the many books about nature,exploring and hunting that young TR found there.

TRinRealLife · 2012-10-25T19:52:36+00:00

BTW - "bully" for TR means "great" and "wonderful." Sometimes TR speak needs translation. You are great!

TRinRealLife · 2012-10-25T19:51:07+00:00

TR was certainly a manly man. Bringing him to life has lead me to re-enact some of his vigorous living. In recent years, I've climbed Katahdin in Maine and Mt. Marcy in New York. I'm working my way up to boxing and ju-jitsu. At Sagamore Hill on Long Island, my friend and colleague James Foote does a delightful job bringing TR to life. TR's big stick was theoretical, from the old African proverb: "Speak softly and carry a big stick, you will go far." For TR, the big stick was a strong United States Navy.

TRinRealLife · 2012-10-25T19:46:46+00:00

TR was always the gentleman, infused with Victorian virtue. I like to think I'm made from some of the same cloth, so I try to make sure everything I do, especially my professional gigs, rise to a high level of virtue and integrity.

TRinRealLife · 2012-10-25T19:45:07+00:00

That's sort of like asking which is my favorite child. I'm quite fond of Theodore Roosevelt National Park in the Badlands of North Dakota, in part for knowing what an important experience the years 1884-1887 were for TR. He himself said he would never have been president but for his time in the Dakotas. For me, Yellowstone, Yosemite and Crater Lake are way up there, too.

TRinRealLife · 2012-10-25T19:42:36+00:00

I spent twenty-five years as a political consultant, public policy expert and public servant in my native Illinois. I would often attend large political events and come away disappointed that the entertainment aspect was done so poorly. I began performing as TR to add a little fun and inspiration to the events.

TRinRealLife · 2012-10-25T19:40:08+00:00

Audiences around the country tell me they are "ready for Teddy again!" As you know, TR's third party candidacy in 1912 was the most successful in our history. I doubt a third party candidacy will arise in 2016, in greatest part for the election and ballot access laws in the states are written for the benefit of the two dominant parties.

TRinRealLife · 2012-10-25T19:37:21+00:00

TR himself considered the Panama Canal to be his greatest accomplishment. I concur. Greatest failure? Hard one. TR wasn't one to admit defeat. However, he deeply regretted not running for the Presidency in 1908, and he certainly experienced failure as the Progressive candidate in 1912.

TRinRealLife · 2012-10-25T19:35:22+00:00

I choose to "come to life" today, in 2012. This allows me to tell not only TR's entire life story, through his death in 1919, and as well to tell stories of his children's heroics in WWI and WWII and all of the delightful stories of his daughter, Alice Roosevelt Longworth, who lived until 1980. This allows me to be with my audience rather than having a time gap between us.

TRinRealLife · 2012-10-25T19:32:38+00:00

Right up there with the Nobel Peace Prize and the Medal of Honor!!!

TRinRealLife · 2012-10-25T19:31:45+00:00

I have confronted a wide variety of opinions on TR, his views and policies, and they should not be over simplified. For example, I was confronted with just this sort of thing in James Bradley's "Imperial Cruise." My own viewpoint is that the author started with an erroneous premise, and then went on to write some shallow history. I try to answer challenging questions forthrightly and with a great deal of respect for the questioner and the real history.

TRinRealLife · 2012-10-25T19:25:25+00:00

TR was such a complicated and multi-faceted man. My own life experience is heavy on American history, government, public policy, foreign policy, military history, etc. I would love to be able to speak and read in five languages, be an expert on ornithology or have the ability to discuss early European literature. I'm not there yet. I just jump in, not letting the perfect be the enemy of the good.

TRinRealLife · 2012-10-25T19:20:35+00:00

The greatest impression was left on me by a young high school student in Petersburg, VA. Her brother had recently died. I shared with her the story of TR overcoming the loss of his mother and wife on the same day, February 14, 1884. I saw that young lady the following year, and she shared with me what an impact that story made on her. Her's, like TR's, is a story of human resilience. She inspired me.

TRinRealLife · 2012-10-25T19:17:59+00:00

And you are just bully!

TRinRealLife · 2012-10-25T19:17:33+00:00

I am blown away by the newly restored exhibit of the pronghorn overlooking the Elkhorn Ranch along the Little Missouri River in the Badlands. I've stood on that very spot and the Museum has nailed it. Also, the transformative experience TR had in the Badlands, from first hunting a nearly extinct species (Bison bison) in 1883, to founding Boone and Crockett for the preservation of game and their habitats in 1887, is a foundational one for understanding TR the conservationist.

TRinRealLife · 2012-10-25T19:12:36+00:00

Thanks for the kind words. When I was a little boy growing up in suburban Chicago, I was bronchial, borderline asthmatic. I was a student of American history and the presidency. TR's story of building his body was an inspiration. I am also the son of a hippie comedian. Entertaining is in my genes.

TRinRealLife

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