Woodrow Landfair
Encyclopedia
Woodrow Landfair, born Stanley Wood Landfair, Jr. on November 9, 1982 in Richmond, Virginia
also called Pack Landfair, is an American storyteller
. Landfair gained notoriety in 2006 and 2007 while chronicling a 48 state motorcycle trek and paying his way as a laborer from town to town across all 50 states. During his life on the road, Landfair stayed in two New York City homeless shelters, worked with illegal immigrants, and spent over a month 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 truck driver, a door-to-door salesman, a beverage delivery man, a stagehand, and a waiter for a New York City Italian restaurant with ownership ties to the Gambino crime family
. Landfair used the jobs, as well as his previous experiences, as material for oral stories.
Between traveling and working, Landfair began self-promoting in roadside bars and coffee shops where he talked about his hoboing experiences. He developed a storytelling act through 71 cities across 48 states, eventually appearing in theaters and on regional and nationwide television.
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. As of July, 2011 neither has been published. Landfair has spoken of three projects: a collection of fictional short stories, a novel, and a non-fiction travelogue. In October 2007, Landfair signed with Janmedia to produce and maintain video, photography, audio, and blog content for a second expedition on the website 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, 48 LIVE, which sells on iTunes. On 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."
Intruder 800 motorcycle
. Landfair recovered his National Championship ring in 2010, buying it back for $1,500.
From 2001 to 2006 he attended college originally on a full 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 catching in the bullpen as a member of the Texas Longhorns baseball team, disqualifying him from naval service. The Longhorns, coached by five time National Champion Augie Garrido
, won the 2005 NCAA National Championship. Without playing an inning in his three years on the roster, Landfair was named Teammate of the Year by his fellow players for the 2005 and 2004 seasons. He lettered all three years then joined the staff as the Student Assistant to the Strength Coach for the 2006 campaign. From 2004 - 2006, Landfair was employed by the athletics department as an Academic Mentor for student-athletes. He was the only student-athlete to hold such a position. Landfair studied Creative Writing
under Zulfikar Ghose
and earned his degree in English.
According to IMDB, Landfair appears in the Richard Linklater
documentary Inning by Inning: A Portrait of a Coach, which aired on ESPN in 2008 and was filmed during the 2006 season. He is also listed on the credits of Benjamin Moses Smith's short film David and the Fish. Landfair is a character in the EA Sports
video game MVP 06: NCAA Baseball
represented by number 35 on the Texas Longhorn roster. Major League Baseball
players Huston Street
, Brad Halsey
, JP Howell, Omar Quintanilla
, Curtis Thigpen
, Michael Hollimon
, Matt Holliday
, Drew Stubbs
, Sam LeCure
and Taylor Teagarden
were teammates or friends of Landfair at the University of Texas.
Landfair grew up with his mother and two sisters in Springfield, Virginia
and spent summers with his father, a California
attorney.
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
also called Pack Landfair, is an American storyteller
Storytelling
Storytelling is the conveying of events in words, images and sounds, often by improvisation or embellishment. Stories or narratives have been shared in every culture as a means of entertainment, education, cultural preservation and in order to instill moral values...
. Landfair gained notoriety in 2006 and 2007 while chronicling a 48 state motorcycle trek and paying his way as a laborer from town to town across all 50 states. During his life on the road, Landfair stayed in two New York City homeless shelters, worked with illegal immigrants, and spent over a month living within the Anarchist group Common Ground Collective
Common Ground Collective
The Common Ground Collective is a decentralized network of non-profit organizations offering support to the residents of New Orleans. It was formed in the Algiers neighborhood of the city in the days after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.-History:...
in New Orleans's Lower Ninth Ward
Lower Ninth Ward
Lower Ninth Ward is a neighborhood of the city of New Orleans. As the name implies, it is part of the Ninth Ward of New Orleans. The Lower Ninth Ward is often thought of as the entire area within New Orleans downriver of the Industrial Canal; however, the City Planning Commission divides this...
after Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
. Among other odd jobs, Landfair worked as a day laborer, a swimming pool lifeguard, a bouncer, a truck driver, a door-to-door salesman, a beverage delivery man, a stagehand, and a waiter for a New York City Italian restaurant with ownership ties to the Gambino crime family
Gambino crime family
The Gambino crime family is one of the "Five Families" that dominates organized crime activities in New York City, United States, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the Mafia . The group is named after Carlo Gambino, boss of the family at the time of the McClellan hearings in 1963...
. Landfair used the jobs, as well as his previous experiences, as material for oral stories.
Between traveling and working, Landfair began self-promoting in roadside bars and coffee shops where he talked about his hoboing experiences. He developed a storytelling act through 71 cities across 48 states, eventually appearing in theaters and on regional and nationwide television.
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. As of July, 2011 neither has been published. Landfair has spoken of three projects: a collection of fictional short stories, a novel, and a non-fiction travelogue. In October 2007, Landfair signed with Janmedia to produce and maintain video, photography, audio, and blog content for a second expedition on the website iWoodrow.com, beginning in the summer of 2008.
On September 23, 2007, Landfair authored and performed a one man show
One man show
The term one-man show often referred to comedian, who would stand on stage and entertain an audience. With the advent of feminism, words and phrases such as one-woman show and comedienne have entered the modern-day lexicon....
48 States of Adventure at Washington D.C.'s Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts
Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts
Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts, known locally in the Washington, D.C. area as simply Wolf Trap, is a performing arts center located on 130 acres of national park land in Wolf Trap, Virginia...
in front of a capacity crowd. The show was recorded as an album, 48 LIVE, which sells on iTunes. On September 24, 2007, the Fox News Channel
Fox News Channel
Fox News Channel , often called Fox News, is a cable and satellite television news channel owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a subsidiary of News Corporation...
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."
Background
After graduating from the University of Texas 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 left on a SuzukiSuzuki
is a Japanese multinational corporation headquartered in Hamamatsu, Japan that specializes in manufacturing compact automobiles and 4x4 vehicles, a full range of motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles , outboard marine engines, wheelchairs and a variety of other small internal combustion engines...
Intruder 800 motorcycle
Motorcycle
A motorcycle is a single-track, two-wheeled motor vehicle. Motorcycles vary considerably depending on the task for which they are designed, such as long distance travel, navigating congested urban traffic, cruising, sport and racing, or off-road conditions.Motorcycles are one of the most...
. Landfair recovered his National Championship ring in 2010, buying it back for $1,500.
From 2001 to 2006 he attended college originally on a full scholarship from the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
. 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 catching in the bullpen as a member of the Texas Longhorns baseball team, disqualifying him from naval service. The Longhorns, coached by five time National Champion Augie Garrido
Augie Garrido
August Edmun Garrido, Jr. is a coach in NCAA Division I college baseball. As of June 12, 2011, Garrido has compiled a record of 1,817 wins, 823 losses, and 8 ties. He is currently in his 43rd season of collegiate coaching...
, won the 2005 NCAA National Championship. Without playing an inning in his three years on the roster, Landfair was named Teammate of the Year by his fellow players for the 2005 and 2004 seasons. He lettered all three years then joined the staff as the Student Assistant to the Strength Coach for the 2006 campaign. From 2004 - 2006, Landfair was employed by the athletics department as an Academic Mentor for student-athletes. He was the only student-athlete to hold such a position. Landfair studied Creative Writing
Creative writing
Creative writing is considered to be any writing, fiction, poetry, or non-fiction, that goes outside the bounds of normal professional, journalistic, academic, and technical forms of literature. Works which fall into this category include novels, epics, short stories, and poems...
under Zulfikar Ghose
Zulfikar Ghose
Zulfikar Ghose is a novelist, poet and essayist. A native of Pakistan who has long lived in Texas, he writes in the surrealist mode of much Latin American fiction, blending fantasy and harsh realism....
and earned his degree in English.
According to IMDB, Landfair appears in the Richard Linklater
Richard Linklater
-Early life:Linklater was born in Houston, Texas. He studied at Sam Houston State University and left midway through his stint in college to work on an off-shore oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico. While working on the rig he read a lot of literature, but on land he developed a love of film through...
documentary Inning by Inning: A Portrait of a Coach, which aired on ESPN in 2008 and was filmed during the 2006 season. He is also listed on the credits of Benjamin Moses Smith's short film David and the Fish. Landfair is a character in the EA Sports
EA Sports
EA Sports is a brand of Electronic Arts that creates and develops sports video games. Formerly a marketing gimmick of Electronic Arts, in which they tried to mimic real-life sports networks by calling themselves "EA Sports Network" with pictures or endorsements of real commentators such as John...
video game MVP 06: NCAA Baseball
MVP 06: NCAA Baseball
MVP 06: NCAA Baseball is the fourth edition of the baseball video game series developed by Electronic Arts. Because of Electronic Arts' loss of the Major League Baseball license to Take Two Interactive in 2005, which now has the exclusive MLB license, the publishers decided to transition the MVP...
represented by number 35 on the Texas Longhorn roster. Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
players Huston Street
Huston Street
Huston Lowell Street is an American baseball relief pitcher for the Colorado Rockies. His father is former University of Texas quarterback James Street, and his brother Juston Street is currently a pitcher for the minor league Vancouver Canadians....
, Brad Halsey
Brad Halsey
Bradford Alexander Halsey is currently a pitcher in the New York Yankees organization.-Amateur career:Halsey attended the University of Texas at Austin, where he was the No...
, JP Howell, Omar Quintanilla
Omar Quintanilla
Omar Quintanilla is an American professional baseball infielder who is a free agent.-Early life:He attended Socorro High School in El Paso, Texas, where he led the city of El Paso in home runs, RBI, and was elected to the Texas All-State shortstop...
, Curtis Thigpen
Curtis Thigpen
Curtis Barnard Thigpen is a right-handed Major League Baseball catcher. Thigpen can also play first base, second base, and third base. He spent his college career at the University of Texas and won the College World Series in 2002 during which he was named to the All-Tournament Team...
, Michael Hollimon
Michael Hollimon
Michael T. Hollimon is a Major League Baseball second baseman and shortstop in the Minnesota Twins organization...
, Matt Holliday
Matt Holliday
Matthew Thomas Holliday , nicknamed "Big Daddy", is an American Major League Baseball left fielder for the St. Louis Cardinals. Holliday was originally drafted by the Colorado Rockies in the seventh round of the 1998 Major League Baseball Draft.Holliday is a five-time All-Star and Silver Slugger...
, Drew Stubbs
Drew Stubbs
Andrew Robert "Drew" Stubbs is an American Major League Baseball player for the Cincinnati Reds. He plays center field.-Before professional baseball:...
, Sam LeCure
Sam LeCure
Samuel R. LeCure is a major league right-handed middle relief pitcher who is currently on the Cincinnati Reds roster. He attended Helias High School in Jefferson City and then University of Texas....
and Taylor Teagarden
Taylor Teagarden
Taylor Hill Teagarden is a catcher for the Baltimore Orioles.-Early life:Teagarden graduated from Creekview High School in Carrollton, Texas....
were teammates or friends of Landfair at the University of Texas.
Landfair grew up with his mother and two sisters in Springfield, Virginia
Springfield, Virginia
Springfield is a census-designated place in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States and a suburb of Washington, D.C. The Springfield CDP is recognized by the U.S. Census Bureau with a population of 30,484 as of the 2010 census. Homes and businesses in bordering CDPs including North Springfield,...
and spent summers with his father, a California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
attorney.
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 StreetHuston StreetHuston Lowell Street is an American baseball relief pitcher for the Colorado Rockies. His father is former University of Texas quarterback James Street, and his brother Juston Street is currently a pitcher for the minor league Vancouver Canadians....
and Omar QuintanillaOmar QuintanillaOmar Quintanilla is an American professional baseball infielder who is a free agent.-Early life:He attended Socorro High School in El Paso, Texas, where he led the city of El Paso in home runs, RBI, and was elected to the Texas All-State shortstop...
http://www.austin360.com/recreation/content/sports/college/utbase/2003numerical.html