Jerry Schierman, seen here with me at the All-A Classic in 2014, was one of the most important mentors that I ever had. I mowed the grass at East Kentucky Power during the summers of 1989 and 1990, and on rainy days I was inside the buildings changing light bulbs. Jerry was the communications manager at EKPC, and gave very valuable advice when he told me to switch my major at Eastern Kentucky University from public relations to journalism, because he said it would make me a better writer. Jerry's department always had the brightest lights because I would constantly change them out just so that I could hang out up there and ask questions.

Jerry gave me a very sobering critique of my photography. Things like the importance of being in focus, and better darkroom skills. As bad as it hurt, I really needed to hear that because I was at the point that my parents and friends were telling me how good I was when I really wasn't. Sometimes you need to hear the truth. Jerry was very nice but brutally honest with me, and I worked hard to get better at photography because of Jerry.