David Perry Lawrence – 50th Reunion Essay

David Perry Lawrence

4200 S. 35th Street #321

Greenfield, WI 53221

hiredavid61@yahoo.com

414 573 3403

Spouse(s): Judy Lynne Lawrence (2009)

Child(ren): Alexa Hanson (1976), Ashley Wedgeworth (1980)

Grandchild(ren): Christian, Victoria, Jocelyn, Kennedy

Education: BA, Yale, 1969

Career: 30 years as people photographer in Dallas

Avocations: Dallas Cowboys, art

College: Trumbull

At Yale I became excited by the adventures of the occasional kid who travelled through Europe and Turkey to the ’Stans in the summertime, and the tales and products they brought back. Their journeys infected me with a longing and love for living abroad, as compared to vacationing or travelling, which I possess to this day.

At Yale I met people who reignited my childhood love of photography, which courses at the art school helped nurture.

I indeed became a photographer, plying my trade in my home town of Dallas, with presidents, senators, congressmen, governors and other politicians, dignitaries, movie stars, celebs, and businessmen parading before my camera for 30 years.

I’ve been fortunate to have spent extended time living in Morocco and the Canary Islands, two years in Hawaii, and most recently three years in Mexico, getting out just in time as people around me were suffering the deaths of loved ones at the hands of the cartels.

My wife Judy and I now reside in Greenfield, Wisconsin, near where her children and grandchildren live. Now retired as a people photographer, I am trying my hand at artistic pictures of flowers, some of which have been featured in shows across the country and hang in private homes. You can see, and purchase (please!), many of them at ElegantFlowerPhotographs.com. Say you’re Yalie and I’ll find a discount for you somewhere.

I haven’t changed much from the person you may have known in the ’60s, although I do have fewer, less extreme, shorter-lasting mood swings. I no longer self-medicate with marijuana (although I felt compelled to indulge while living in Mexico. After all, it was Mexico!). After 30 years and four hospital stays, my moods are now somewhat better controlled by prescription drugs. Cheers!