UPDATE: Sent to me by our friend Laurie, who lives in VT. A local article.
Richard Phillips, a regular guy from Vermont.
A Placid Man on Land, Caught in a Pirate Drama at Sea – NYTimes.com
At sea he is intense and resolute, so when Capt. Richard Phillips tried to escape his pirate captors Friday by leaping off their slow-moving lifeboat, some of his closest friends did not blink.
But at home, friends and relatives said, Captain Phillips, 53, is a consummate regular guy who worships Boston sports teams, particularly the Celtics, shoots hoops at the Y.M.C.A., plays golf with retirees and faithfully picks up muffins for Sunday brunch with his family. When he is away, plying dangerous ocean waters as a merchant ship captain, the image his neighbors here remember is of him placidly riding his lawnmower.
Now he is at the center of an extraordinary international incident. “When he went for that swim today, it didn’t surprise me at all,” said Peter Wakefield, who grew up with the captain outside Boston and visited him last month. “He’s got good intuition, and he’s a very determined guy.”
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