Brian Kistler
Stats:
- Born October 12, 1959 in Allentown, Pennsylvania
- Residing in Austin, Texas since April 2, 1991
- Single
- Two younger sisters, born 1962 and 1967
- One niece, Lauren
- Parents & one grandmother, born in 1915, still living
- M.A. Spanish: Penn State University (Dec., 1987)
- B.A. Spanish: Millersville University (May, 1982)
- Attended Universidad de Sevilla, Spain (Jan. thru May, 1981)
- Bilingual (English/Spanish) Insurance Inspector
- Former Long-Term Part-Time Spanish Instructor(1991-1998 at Austin Community College)
- 11 years total, part-time Spanish Instructor (Including in Texas, Oklahoma and Pennsylvania)
General Information:
It is possible that I might never have taken strides to start The Walter Tetley Web Page, had it not been for the 2000 release of the live action/cartoon movie, The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinke. With the debut of that film (and with the knowledge that June Foray was going to reprise her role, as Rocky, after 41 years), I found that this dormant, latent interest of mine……..about Jay Ward cartoons and his voice actors, exploded forth, in me, with a fantastic, great, gushing enthusiam!
I began to think about things, that I had scarcely thought about, in years……..especially about those wonderful folks, June Foray, Bill Scott, Daws Butler and Paul Frees, who had been so very kind to me, in their letters, and had shown an extraordinary amount of enthusiam, of their own, in their communication with me. This was truly remarkable, since I was only a young lad of 14 or 15, at the time. It is a shame that I never managed to touch base with Walter Tetley, before he died.
Now about Greg, my web partner, who takes care of all the design…….It can truly be said that Greg, in some ways, is “like Bill Scott”. Read my feature, entitled, Without Fanfare, and you will get a good grasp of the wonderful, unselfish guy that Greg is.
For Greg, the interest in Jay Ward cartoons, and Jay’s voice artists, is really second nature. Because Greg does not share quite the interest that I (and many of you) have in Jay Ward Productions, it is all the more REMARKABLE, that he has contributed so much to my endeavors. This speaks volumes of Greg’s character and dedication as a friend.
Perhaps all of you, and I, will slowly convert Greg, and even addict him, to the same level of enthusiasm, and love, that you and I have for Jay Ward Productions. Not to say that Greg does not appreciate and enjoy these cartoons, but he is such a versatile and multi-faceted person, with all his hobbies and interests, that these cartoons are not quite the passion, for him, as they are for many of us.
As one of my best friends, Greg wanted to help me unharness and unlock my love for writing. Greg has already seen some things that I have written, regarding my recent travels to France and Greece. Since he knew that I was not a very technical person, he was completely open to taking the “design side”, of The Walter Tetley Web Page, under his wing.
The Walter Tetley Web Page has come a long, long way, since it first debuted, late in 2000, on Yahoo. In its “primitive infancy”, it included only the Tribute to Walter Tetley, and nothing more (other than the cartoon picture of Sherman and Peabody, at the beginning). In its primitive form, the tribute was not even broken up into pages (it was a long, long, article, on a single page, which one had to constantly scroll down).
It is very interesting, for me, to look at what it was, on Day One, and see how far we have come to date. And, of course, we really do look forward to the commentary of you (the Readers) and to including as much of your commentary, as possible, on Peabody’s Pony Express.
One of my big passions, besides Jay Ward Cartoons, is travel. I lived and studied, in Sevilla, Spain, in 1981. At the time I lived with a Spanish family. During that time I also made a side trip to Portugal.
In August/September 1998 I took a two-week vacation to France and Greece. In March 1999 I returned, for another two-week vacation, to Greece alone (including the larger island of Crete).
I have been to Mexico, but not very far into the interior….. not much more than 15-20 miles south of the border. As a child, my parents, sisters and I made several trips to Canada, including Quebec. This is pretty much the extent of my foreign travel.
I also enjoy all types of music but, living in Texas I am sometimes partial to country western music. I enjoy country western dancing as well.
I enjoy trips to the Texas Hill Country, which is much greener than one might suspect, given the stereotypes that many have of Texas. I also enjoy trips to South Central New Mexico, to the small towns of Ruidoso and Cloudcroft. Here, not only is it green, and full of foothills, but it is incredibly COOL. Cloudcroft often does not make it past the 70s, as a high, in the summer.
I also like quaint, little country gift shops (though my web partner, Greg and I, are alike in many ways, this is one way in which we “part company”, so to speak).
I do have a musical bent. Greg, an accomplished guitarist, was helping me learn to play the guitar, but I have so many different hobbies, that I have been distracted and have placed that endeavor on the back burner.
In my own home, I have a Southwestern decor and I display my greatly varied “Rock Collection” on one of my coffee tables.
One of my favorite parts of Texas is the Big Bend Valley, in Far West Texas, southeast of El Paso. Since 1992 I have been there at least 25-30 times, despite the fact that it is 500 miles from my hometown of Austin.
In the Big Bend Valley, I enjoy traveling not just to the beautiful, mountainous National Park, of the same name, but I also enjoy travels west of the park, en route to Presidio, Texas (the “hot spot” of the state) and to the local ghostowns of Terlingua, Lajitas and Study Butte. The ghostowns are very colorful and full of interesting people.
Photography is also one of my big hobbies. I have hundreds of pictures from Big Bend (including the many desert blossoms that bloom, in the spring) and the same large number of pictures from my recent trips to France and Greece. Unfortunately I do not have any photos, at all, from my semester in Spain. Lamentably, I was not into photography, at all, back then. I do hope to return to Spain someday. At this point it is the 20-year anniversary of my one and only trip there…………
