Woodrow Landfair

Infobox musical artist
Name = Woodrow Landfair


Img_capt = Woodrow Landfair on the machine that took him around America
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Background = Expeditionary, Author
Birth_name = Stanley Wood Landfair, Jr.
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Born = November 9, 1982
Richmond, Virginia, USA
Died =
Genre =
Occupation = Expeditionary, Storyteller, Writer
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Stanley Wood Landfair, Jr. also called Pack Landfair (born November 9, 1982 in Richmond, Virginia) is an American expeditionary, storyteller and writer. Landfair gained notoriety in 2007 while chronicling an arduous year-long 48 state motorcycle trek. During his thirteen month odyssey he stayed in two New York City homeless shelters, worked with illegal immigrants, and spent five weeks living within the Anarchist group Common Ground Collective in New Orleans's Lower Ninth Ward after Hurricane Katrina. Among other odd jobs, Landfair worked as a day laborer, a swimming pool lifeguard, a bouncer, a door-to-door salesman, and a waiter for a New York City Italian restaurant with ownership ties to the Gambino crime family. The labor stints that funded his vagabond lifestyle became the fodder for his fiction.

Between traveling and working, Landfair began promoting himself in roadside bars and cafes where he talked about his hoboing experiences. He crafted his storytelling act through 71 cities across 48 states, eventually appearing on regional and nationwide television.

Background

Landfair grew up with his mother (Sheri) and two sisters (Jennifer and Monica) in Springfield, Virginia and spent summers with his father (Stan Landfair, Sr.), a California attorney.

He attended the University of Texas from 2001 until 2006 originally on a scholarship from the United States Navy. Landfair, whose ambition was to become a Navy SEAL, injured his lower back running marathons then tore two discs in his spine in 2005 while playing baseball for the Texas Longhorns and was disqualified from naval service.

That year, he and the Longhorns won the NCAA National Championship. Landfair earned Texas's Teammate of the Year award for the season as well as for the 2004 campaign in which the Longhorns were the NCAA runner-up.

Landfair spent 2006 working as an assistant strength coach for the University of Texas baseball team while completing his degree in English Creative Writing.

After graduating in the spring of 2006, Landfair terminated the lease on his apartment, adopted the nickname "Woodrow", pawned what he could--including his National Championship ring--and took off on a Suzuki Intruder 800 motorcycle. Determined to discover America while becoming a novelist, he kept only a backpack containing a sleeping bag, laptop computer, digital camera, cell phone, writing material and two novels.

Writing

As of May 2007, Landfair had performed his oral stories in 41 cities in 32 states. He was featured in several newspapers nationwide and on May 8, 2007 appeared on the front page of the Austin American Statesman as part of a two page spread.

In July 2007, Landfair signed a contract for professional representation with KBC Media, regarding a book based on his travels. Landfair has spoken of three projects: a collection of fictional short stories, a novel, and a non-fiction travelogue. That October, Landfair signed with JanMedia to produce and maintain video, photography, audio, and blog content for a second expedition on the website [http://www.iWoodrow.com iWoodrow.com] , beginning in the summer of 2008.

On September 23, 2007, Landfair authored and performed a one man show "48 States of Adventure" at Washington D.C.'s Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts in front of a capacity crowd. The show was recorded as an album. The seventy-five minute epic follows a protagonist hoboing across America on a motorcycle. The performance features a live soundtrack by musicians Dave McKeon and Chris Behrmann, with auxiliary narration by Dane Button.

The next day,September 24, 2007, the Fox News Channel ran a feature on Landfair, his stories and his travels. Anchor Shepherd Smith referred to Landfair as "the next John Steinbeck or Louis L'Amour."

Personal life

On February 9, 2008, Landfair married Angela Regina Rivas. The couple lives in California

Trivia

Landfair studied under Pakistani American English language writer Zulfikar Ghose.

Landfair lists John Steinbeck and Woody Guthrie as influences.

Landfair also goes by the nickname "Pack."

Major League Baseball players Huston Street, Brad Halsey, JP Howell, Omar Quintanilla, Curtis Thigpen, Michael Hollimon, and Matt Holliday were teammates or friends of Landfair at the University of Texas.

Landfair is a character in the EA Sports video game MVP 06 NCAA Baseball represented by number 35 on the Texas Longhorn roster.

Landfair is listed on the credits of Benjamin Moses Smith's short film "David and the Fish".

Landfair, while working for the University of Texas in 2006, appears in the Richard Linklater documentary "Inning by Inning: A Portrait of a Coach".

References

*Golden, Cedric. (2007-05-08), "A Free Spirit and Ex-Horn Rides On", Austin American Statesman [http://www.statesman.com/sports/content/sports/stories/other/05/08/8golden.html] (long article)

*Loza, Josefina. (2007-06-14), "Writer on cross-country trip to share stories in Omaha", Omaha World-Herald [http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:ADXCf2133ksJ:www.omaha.com/index.php%3Fu_page%3D2620%26u_sid%3D10042178+woodrow+landfair+omaha&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=7&gl=us&client=firefox-a]

*Schafer, Alyssa. (2007-06-03), "Touring the 'Land of Opportunity'", Bismarck Tribune [http://www.bismarcktribune.com/articles/2007/06/03/news/life/134361.txt]

*Dukes, Lucy. (2007-05-09), "Writer Speaking on Motorcycle Travels, Author Taking Trip To Be Fiction Book Guy", Couer d'Alene Press (Feature on Landfair and his visit to Couer d'Alene)

*Healy, Amber. (2007-04-05), "Modern-Day Troubadour", Springfield Connection [http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:XUdEdwO4ZJMJ:www.greatfallsconnection.com/article.asp%3Farticle%3D79801%26paper%3D72%26cat%3D104+%22springfield+connection%22+Woodrow+Landfair&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=2&gl=us&client=firefox-a]

*Harris, Katie. (2007-04-06), "Motorcyclist Travels Nation, Plans to Give Away $3,000", Daily Toreador [http://media.www.dailytoreador.com/media/storage/paper870/news/2007/04/06/LaVida/Motorcyclist.Travels.Nation.Plans.To.Give.Away.3000-2827534.shtml] (Article in Texas Tech University newspaper)

*Pinkman, John. (2004-06), "After Injury Texas Player Moves On", Collegiate Baseball

*Word Press [http://iwim.wordpress.com/2007/05/08/where-in-the-world-is-woodrow-landfair/] (blog posting)

*Reno Gazette-Journal [http://news.rgj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070513/NEIGHBORHOODS06/705130329/1253] (bare mention of forthcoming talk)

*University of Texas sports site article partly on Landfair [http://www.texassports.com/index.php?s=&url_channel_id=67&url_subchannel_id=&url_article_id=1363&change_well_id=2]

*Holcomb, Lori. (2007-07-12), "Friend Comes to B.C. during His Search for the 'Pulse of America'", Battle Creek Enquirer [http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:0JTAEQzMOdkJ:www.battlecreekenquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article%3FAID%3D/20070712/ENTERTAINMENT01/707120321/1041/ENTERTAINMENT%26template%3Dprintart+woodrow+landfair+battle+creek&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=4&gl=us&client=firefox-a]

*Farrell, Joelle. (2007-07-23), "5 Questions for Cross-Country Motorcyclist", Concord Monitor [http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:vltIbqZl8CcJ:www.concordmonitor.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article%3FAID%3D/20070725/REPOSITORY/707250379+woodrow+landfair+new+hampshire&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=2&gl=us&client=firefox-a]

*Tice, Lindsay. (2007-07-25), "Trek on Two Wheels", Sun Journal [http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:K_c6PvtR88cJ:www.sunjournal.com/story/222242-3/LewistonAuburn/Trek_on_two_wheels/+woodrow+landfair+maine&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=5&gl=us&client=firefox-a]

*McNiff, Tim. (2007-07-05), "Travelin' Man", NBC Minneapolis KARE-11 [http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:wmVkE-JohCQJ:www.kare11.com/news/news_article.aspx%3Fstoryid%3D259138+woodrow+landfair+kare+11&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=5&gl=us&client=firefox-a] (Television Interview)

*Henley, Bill. (2007-08-10), "Woodrow Landfair", 10! Show, NBC Philadelphia

*OPIE & ANTHONY. (2007-08-10), "Author Once Lived in Homeless Shelter", WYSP Philadelphia, Infintity/CBS/XM Satellite

*Allen, Betty Archer. (2007-08-02), "Landfair Completes Cross Country Journey", Gulf Breeze News

*Healy, Amber. (2007-09-13), "Long and Winding Road Home", Springfield Connection

*Smith, Shepherd. (2007-09-24), "Author Travels America", The Fox News Channel

*Hayward, JC. (2007-11-09), "Woodrow 'Pack' Landfair", CBS Washington, D.C.

External links

*The Across America Website [http://iWoodrow.com] (Chronicles Landfair's adventures)

*2005 National Champion Roster [http://www.ncaasports.com/baseball/mens/rosters/divi/TX]

*The Baseball Cube [http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/L/Pack-Landfair.shtml] (page on Landfair's baseball career, but with no stats or information provided)

*Texas State Legislature Bill [http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:wWe5oDuuWk0J:www.legis.state.tx.us/tlodocs/791/billtext/doc/HC00001F.doc+pack+landfair+collegiate+baseball&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=10&gl=us&client=firefox-a] about the Baseball team, including him on a list.

*Landfair's connection to Huston Street and Omar Quintanilla [http://www.austin360.com/recreation/content/sports/college/utbase/2003numerical.html]