Today's Featured Biography

 
Steve Leuniz*

Okay, here's the scoop...

After high school I went to UCLA, then came back to Litchfield a while and worked and finally started getting in shape, but things got boring in the social area. I moved back to L.A., worked a little in the music & TV industry (as a rep and some acting) then moved back again to Litchfield in 1994 as all at once I was running out of money, the Northridge quake hit right near and disheveled my place, and my grandfather (who had been brought to AZ to live with my mom and convalesce from a stroke) died on her suddenly.

Some of you may remember my mom had substituted for a few of our classes when we were in junior high and high school. She was alone and was going through a divorce as well as chemo & treatment for breast cancer so it was a good time for me to move back with all that stuff happening at once. I'm glad I did because 9 months later, after being in such great spirits and seeming to make a remarkable recovery, she unexpectedly died (that's cancer). We had just bought a dog my mom loved and who became a roommate and invaluable companion for me, and I found myself suddenly alone in a family town where I grew up after having a rather wild 4 years in L.A. I decided to stay and finish updating & renovating the Litchfield house. It was soon after that we had our 10-year class reunion, where I guess because i had long hair and was more of a partier, I was voted "Most Changed".

A couple years later I finally figured as a bachelor I was tired of keeping up a big house, driving back & forth into town and the expense & maintenance, so I sold it and moved to N. Central Phoenix where I bought a condo in 1998, not far from where my sister lived and had just gotten married. She was in the AFHS Class of 1980, and in 1999 she had my niece Katherine (named for my mom) and in 2001 my nephew Brian, both adorable and well-mannered kids. She has been a high school teacher herself for almost 20 years now.

Life since then has been officially starting & operating my own businesses: First was my business Kustom Karaoke, which became an official state registered LLC in 2000. I then set-up and learned about running a vacation rental at a resort here for tourists & visitors (the Phoenix area is really booming!) a few years later, as well as socializing and enjoying life. My dad spent summers in Europe and bought a winter vacation rental in my same resort community. He was enjoying his new grandkids in his retirement when a sudden heart problem caused the need for a quintuple-bypass. History seemed to repeat itself when a year and a half later he too died when expected to recover after so many grueling post-surgical complications. My dog, who had been there for my mom when she died and was still such a great comfort and always very energetic and healthy, became suddenly ill and died exactly one month after I lost my dad. Let's just say 2003 really sucked!

I now keep a secondary place where I spend a few months a year in Woodland Hills, CA with an old friend, and still have friends and occasional work there. I guess I have learned that life is so short, and no matter how young or healthy you are, today might honestly be your last day on Earth, so I want to live as well as possible while I am still alive and not too old. As I am self-employed, I try to keep a mobile and flexible life that is not constrained or dictated by my work schedule. I hadn't traveled much in years, and for a while I really got into cruises, one of which was a 10-day excursion in the E. Mediterranean around Italy, Spain (where I lived as a child) and the Greek islands, where I also attended the 2004 Athens Olympic Games.

The Summer of 2008 was interesting. Went to the 2008 TV Land Awards and got to do the red carpet and sit at all the big fancy dinner tables with the stars, then I was a stand-in for Patrick Dempsey ("Grey's Anatomy") and later Josh Holloway ("Lost") for an ABC Fall Promo shoot for their biggest shows. It was fun meeting and working with the casts & crew.

Hopefully, there are many more good times and adventrues ahead. In the mean time, it's really been nice reconnecting with everyone from high school (and other times in my past) on here and on Facebook! : )P

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