I found this on a dusty old, little used site, and thought it was a chuckle!
Merriman
12-21-2005, 12:45 PM
David Douglass Merriman lll
Biography
(updated 10-25-2004)
Born January twentieth, 1949, David Douglass Merriman lll was raised in Ann Arbor Michigan (the liberal whacko capital of the mid-west). From age seven he presented as an aggressive and talented scratch-builder of models, both static display and functional. His very low academic achievements at school were somewhat counterbalanced by his innate and learned mechanical skills, unappreciated by the Ann Arbor Public Schools System. Reports of his ‘creative’ use of school machine tools and materials, resulted in several expulsions from shop-class, repeated warnings, and intensive counseling.
Nearing graduation, Merriman (and many of his peers) found himself designated, ‘gun-fodder’, and was counseled to beat the draft and join the military; an institution renowned for matching young men to specific professional activity.
In 1967 Merriman left Pioneer High School and promptly joined the Navy. At the Detroit Induction Center -- after a grueling three minutes of intensive psychological, physical, and sociological screening -- Merriman found himself assigned a career path: Torpedoman’s Mate (stupid people lifting very heavy things).
Polite society would be secure for the next two decades.
Merriman initially served aboard submarines then went on to work as a salvage and ships husbandry hard-hat Diver (trainable people lifting very heavy things). Merriman was maturing.
During the last decade of Merriman’s navy career he engaged in professional model work in his off time. Soon he found himself in demand as a source of models and miniatures for the TV/motion picture industry, museums, industrial display users, and private collectors.
Merriman retired, with his wife, Eleanor, to Virginia Beach Virginia in 1988. A few years previous to that they had established D&E Miniatures, a business dedicated to the design, fabrication, and sale of specialized model displays and r/c submarine systems for the hobby trade.
Merriman’s work can be seen in big and small screen productions, such as: The Hunt For Red October, Crimson Tide, Star Trek-5, Star Trek The Next Generation, Attack From Mars, and other lesser efforts.
Never one to leave the stage gracefully (motion picture and TV effects work now hard to secure due to the advent of CGI rendered visuals) Merriman has recently stooped to work on low-rent, bottom of the barrel, quick-get-the-shot-in-because-here-comes-the-station-manager TV productions. His appearances on the local ‘Doctor Madblood Show’ serve as examples of Merriman’s sad, unquenchable need for public attention.
Currently Merriman is basking in the afterglow of his recent involvement as effects miniature maker and operator for the David Clark Inc. production, The Hunt For The Alligator. That one-hour episode currently in rotation at the Discovery Science Channel.
Today, within the model building community, Merriman is regarded as a Craftsman of extraordinary ability. He has contributed his expertise to various magazines, industry brochures, books, Internet sites, and instructional videos. Merriman also speaks to the occasional group interested in the craft of Model Building.
Submitted,
David D Merriman lll
D&E Miniatures
Merriman
12-21-2005, 12:45 PM
David Douglass Merriman lll
Biography
(updated 10-25-2004)
Born January twentieth, 1949, David Douglass Merriman lll was raised in Ann Arbor Michigan (the liberal whacko capital of the mid-west). From age seven he presented as an aggressive and talented scratch-builder of models, both static display and functional. His very low academic achievements at school were somewhat counterbalanced by his innate and learned mechanical skills, unappreciated by the Ann Arbor Public Schools System. Reports of his ‘creative’ use of school machine tools and materials, resulted in several expulsions from shop-class, repeated warnings, and intensive counseling.
Nearing graduation, Merriman (and many of his peers) found himself designated, ‘gun-fodder’, and was counseled to beat the draft and join the military; an institution renowned for matching young men to specific professional activity.
In 1967 Merriman left Pioneer High School and promptly joined the Navy. At the Detroit Induction Center -- after a grueling three minutes of intensive psychological, physical, and sociological screening -- Merriman found himself assigned a career path: Torpedoman’s Mate (stupid people lifting very heavy things).
Polite society would be secure for the next two decades.
Merriman initially served aboard submarines then went on to work as a salvage and ships husbandry hard-hat Diver (trainable people lifting very heavy things). Merriman was maturing.
During the last decade of Merriman’s navy career he engaged in professional model work in his off time. Soon he found himself in demand as a source of models and miniatures for the TV/motion picture industry, museums, industrial display users, and private collectors.
Merriman retired, with his wife, Eleanor, to Virginia Beach Virginia in 1988. A few years previous to that they had established D&E Miniatures, a business dedicated to the design, fabrication, and sale of specialized model displays and r/c submarine systems for the hobby trade.
Merriman’s work can be seen in big and small screen productions, such as: The Hunt For Red October, Crimson Tide, Star Trek-5, Star Trek The Next Generation, Attack From Mars, and other lesser efforts.
Never one to leave the stage gracefully (motion picture and TV effects work now hard to secure due to the advent of CGI rendered visuals) Merriman has recently stooped to work on low-rent, bottom of the barrel, quick-get-the-shot-in-because-here-comes-the-station-manager TV productions. His appearances on the local ‘Doctor Madblood Show’ serve as examples of Merriman’s sad, unquenchable need for public attention.
Currently Merriman is basking in the afterglow of his recent involvement as effects miniature maker and operator for the David Clark Inc. production, The Hunt For The Alligator. That one-hour episode currently in rotation at the Discovery Science Channel.
Today, within the model building community, Merriman is regarded as a Craftsman of extraordinary ability. He has contributed his expertise to various magazines, industry brochures, books, Internet sites, and instructional videos. Merriman also speaks to the occasional group interested in the craft of Model Building.
Submitted,
David D Merriman lll
D&E Miniatures
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