Alan Raycraft

Hello everyone,

In 1968, I moved to Florida with a girl named Jody Paolillo. Young and confused, our relationship lasted only a year and a half. My obsession with diving didn't help, but the exercise was great. Trim and fit. Guess you could say my greatest love was the ocean floor. Later, I met Shirley who lived in Hollywood Florida. We traveled from Florida to Ossining on a Triumph 650 motorcycle. I sold the bike and bought a VW bus from Dave Perugini's grandfather. We then moved to and worked in the Woodstock / Kingston area for 2 years before moving to Colorado. Bought 4 acres of land (almost 9000 feet in elevation). I had to laugh when I received a letter from someone in the Midwest. He asked .... "How do you breathe up there"?

I've been living in the rural areas, adjacent to Colorado Springs for about 34 years. Briefly lived in Northeast Arizona for about a year and a half. Not a great place. My wife (Patricia) and I came back and now live on a ridge 30 miles East of the Springs. Patricia is my third wife and the most wonderful of the three. We've been married for 22 great years. Third one's a charm, right ? We love to dance (at home) to some romantic tunes from the late 50s and newer after wine on Friday night.

Most of my work was in graphic arts which included dark room work in custom photo labs. After years of self tutoring through books and magazines, I later became self employed, grinding and polishing telescope optics (mirror optics) for amateur astronomers. Google my name. The optical machine in the photo is home made, but works quite well. Hobbies: Astronomy and photography

- Alan Raycraft