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Crisis solver takes it easy; actor's art imitates lifeBy MICHAEL CANNING
© St. Petersburg Times, When you've led the kind of life that Norman Hickey has, the overriding challenge at 75 becomes, as he put it, "being not so busy." Hickey has been a Depression-era sewer pipe rat chaser and junk collector, Marine bodyguard, U.S. State Department liaison to South Vietnam during the war, and longtime city and county government manager. Add in Hickey's knack for taking on new jobs amid times of crisis, and it's easy to understand why it's tough for Hickey to suddenly act retired. Hickey rode out Hillsborough's biggest scandal in the early '80s as the incorruptible county administrator, only to leave in 1986 after numerous clashes with commissioners. He then became chief administrative officer of San Diego County in California. By the time he left in 1992, it had shed its "County in Chaos" nickname. Ready for his next crisis, Hickey found one in St. Petersburg. By 1992, the city was reeling from the forced resignations of its two city managers and the firing of police Chief Ernest "Curt" Curtsinger, an event that stoked racial tensions in the city. Hickey agreed to be city manager for a year. In a controversial deal, Hickey offered Curtsinger $585,000 and a city job outside the Police Department on the eve of a referendum that sought to reinstate Curtsinger. Near the end of Hickey's run, voters eliminated his appointed post and opted to directly elect a mayor to lead the city. In 1994 and 1996, Hickey spent yearlong stints in Russia and some former Soviet republics, helping local governments convert to democracy. Hickey and his wife, Dolores, now live in a Daytona Beach house they have owned for 38 years (he was the longtime city manager of nearby Titusville). They cruise the St. Johns River in their 28-foot Chris Craft, and summer in their Smokey Mountains cabin in North Carolina. Hickey still volunteers as a consultant to local governments. He may be retired, but he says he can't "shut down totally." Kerry Glamsch was one of the bay area's most acclaimed stage actors in 1991 when an event he barely remembers changed his life. Glamsch was house sitting at an Atlanta apartment complex when he stumbled upon a burglar, who stabbed him 11 times, mostly in the neck. A maintenance worker found Glamsch unconscious. He remained unconscious for two weeks. His attacker, Nikita Nichols, was convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison. Glamsch recovered, but lost a vocal cord. His voice weakened, and he was forced to give up his acting career. The Tampa native and University of South Florida theater graduate switched to playwriting. In 1993 he wrote and directed Amy's Pitiful Legs at the short-lived Warehouse Theater in Tampa. The play's allegorical ties to Glamsch's experience were obvious: A crazed, knife-wielding home invader terrorizes a family. In 1996 Glamsch moved to Austin, Texas, after landing a three-year James Michener Fellowship to study screenwriting at the University of Texas. He's remained there, and now shares a condo with his fiancee, Marcy Shaarda. Though he had works published in four national literary magazines, Glamsch, 41, has mainly supported himself with odd jobs, including a semester of substitute drama teaching at Tampa's Berkeley Preparatory School last year, and driving a promotional "Brainmobile" for an Austin CD-ROM textbook company. A year ago he and a friend started Swell Audio, which produces adult entertainment audio CDs. Over the years Glamsch's voice has strengthened, and he has returned to film acting, which isn't as vocally demanding as stage acting. You might glimpse him as an extra in the upcoming Spy Kids 2, or The Life of David Gale, or in a leading role in Dog's Bark, a full-length indie feature. Glamsch says the attack hasn't broken him. "It gave me a deeper understanding of life, and a much greater appreciation for the brief time that we're here." - Michael Canning can be reached at (813) 226-3408, or canning@sptimes.com.
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From the Times Sandra Thompson |
