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Ken Goddard
I recently discovered that Art Diamond lives nearby in our little CA town and we had a nice meeting last week. Discussing our past 50 years refreshed some memories and put some things in context. The following will be devoid of reflection or intense thought as I plan to devote 30 minutes to this (after reading your bio and the others posted, this will surely not be worthy of a bio post, probably more fitting in the “Chit Chat” section). After a lackluster academic career at Wheatley (no fault of the fine faculty, just a general lack of inspiration or the inability to focus on the matters at hand), but a fun and memorable four years nevertheless, I enrolled at Gettysburg College. A good experience for me, as the setting inspired a lifelong interest in history and changed my view of the learning process. After four years I graduated with a degree in finance/accounting and took a job with Shell Oil as an analyst/senior accountant at their data center in Manhattan. Living in Manhattan was a wonderful, exciting experience that opened my eyes to the cultural and social worlds only available in a large city. As the 60’s ended I was becoming restless and discontent with my job, life in the city (garbage and subway strikes, hot, humid summers, crowds, etc.) and felt the need to move on. I was reaching the end of my National Guard commitment and decided this was the perfect and perhaps only time I’d be able to cut ties, pack my belongings in a car and set out on an extended adventure. After a great several months exploring the country I found myself in LA for a visit with some friends. I had been to CA before on several vacations and loved the surf, sun and general relaxed attitude. I enrolled at a local university for classes that eventually led to my MBA and decided to take a few interviews and see what the job market looked like. I received an offer from a large LA based company as a group controller and decided to give it a whirl. About this time I became re-acquainted with a friend I had known in Manhattan, a lovely teacher turned TWA flight attendant who was in LA. Long story short we were married a year later and have been for 38 years. My company soon after merged with Kraft Foods and I stayed on for 20 years in various financial positions. During this period we were blessed with 3 wonderful girls who provided me with so much joy and do to this day. In the early 90’s Kraft was acquired by Philip Morris Co. and my VP job was to be transferred to Chicago. With 3 girls in high school I decided to call it quits. Having worked with a number of advertising agencies over the years from the client side I had enough knowledge to enter that field. Eventually I partnered with several associates and formed a new agency. I’m still in the advertising and public relations business and go to the office several days a week, but my golf course is only 5 minutes away if I need diversion. Over the years I have kept busy in various ways-involved with some fun sideline ventures, some successful, others not (Phidippides running gear store, Beach City Brewing Company, Peggy Sue gold mine in NV, beach rental properties, among others), put in many years of coaching my daughter’s various athletic teams and participating in the Big Brother program, and ran 30+ marathons. Having travel benefits via my wife’s 30 years with TWA and American Airlines has allowed our family to explore many parts of the world. One of my favorite trips each year is a hike in the Swiss/French/Italian Alps with some buddies from CA and the UK. I’ve loved running over the years and still manage to put in some miles with friends and participate in some cycling events during the year. I also manage to sneak over to my golf club several days a week and am looking forward to the day I can walk down the fairway with my two grandsons (and 3^rd on the way) at my side. Well friends, times up and I better send before I read this and change my mind. Best regards, Ken Goddard

Ken Goddard

I recently discovered that Art Diamond lives nearby in our little CA town and we had a nice meeting last week. Discussing our past 50 years refreshed some memories and put some things in context. The following will be devoid of reflection or intense thought as I plan to devote 30 minutes to this (after reading your bio and the others posted, this will surely not be worthy of a bio post, probably more fitting in the “Chit Chat” section).

After a lackluster academic career at Wheatley (no fault of the fine faculty, just a general lack of inspiration or the inability to focus on the matters at hand), but a fun and memorable four years nevertheless, I enrolled at Gettysburg College. A good experience for me, as the setting inspired a lifelong interest in history and changed my view of the learning process.

After four years I graduated with a degree in finance/accounting and took a job with Shell Oil as an analyst/senior accountant at their data center in Manhattan. Living in Manhattan was a wonderful, exciting experience that opened my eyes to the cultural and social worlds only available in a large city. As the 60’s ended I was becoming restless and discontent with my job, life in the city (garbage and subway strikes, hot, humid summers, crowds, etc.) and felt the need to move on. I was reaching the end of my National Guard commitment and decided this was the perfect and perhaps only time I’d be able to cut ties, pack my belongings in a car and set out on an extended adventure. After a great several months exploring the country I found myself in LA for a visit with some friends. I had been to CA before on several vacations and loved the surf, sun and general relaxed attitude. I enrolled at a local university for classes that eventually led to my MBA and decided to take a few interviews and see what the job market looked like. I received an offer from a large LA based company as a group controller and decided to give it a whirl. About this time I became re-acquainted with a friend I had known in Manhattan, a lovely teacher turned TWA flight attendant who was in LA. Long story short we were married a year later and have been for 38 years. My company soon after merged with Kraft Foods and I stayed on for 20 years in various financial positions. During this period we were blessed with 3 wonderful girls who provided me with so much joy and do to this day.

In the early 90’s Kraft was acquired by Philip Morris Co. and my VP job was to be transferred to Chicago. With 3 girls in high school I decided to call it quits. Having worked with a number of advertising agencies over the years from the client side I had enough knowledge to enter that field. Eventually I partnered with several associates and formed a new agency. I’m still in the advertising and public relations business and go to the office several days a week, but my golf course is only 5 minutes away if I need diversion. Over the years I have kept busy in various ways-involved with some fun sideline ventures, some successful, others not (Phidippides running gear store, Beach City Brewing Company, Peggy Sue gold mine in NV, beach rental properties, among others), put in many years of coaching my daughter’s various athletic teams and participating in the Big Brother program, and ran 30+ marathons. Having travel benefits via my wife’s 30 years with TWA and American Airlines has allowed our family to explore many parts of the world. One of my favorite trips each year is a hike in the Swiss/French/Italian Alps with some buddies from CA and the UK. I’ve loved running over the years and still manage to put in some miles with friends and participate in some cycling events during the year. I also manage to sneak over to my golf club several days a week and am looking forward to the day I can walk down the fairway with my two grandsons (and 3^rd on the way) at my side.

Well friends, times up and I better send before I read this and change my mind.

Best regards,

Ken Goddard