Billy

Billy

Now to Billy, the firstborn son who arrived a few years after Wendy’s birth, and now lives here in Westchester, thank the good lord. While my other two children are in California, I am so grateful for Billy’s attentiveness and common sense. It has been with great pride that I have watched his 30-year plus career blossom. A graduate of Cornell University, he has a Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering and a Master’s degree in Structural Engineering. Initially, Billy worked in Salt Lake City on structural analysis and design of roller coasters, applying his expertise in track design and construction. It was in Salt Lake City that he met Natalie. She used to call him her “friend…” at first a platonic relationship, then marriage.

Now in New York, he is Vice President and Division Chief (the driving force) of the entertainment division at McLaren Engineering. Billy

has engineered and overseen thousands of projects involving action equipment, stage sets, theatrical rigging, architectural theming and the like. Examples are some of the world’s largest live theatres, concert touring sets, amusement attractions, casinos, magic shows, the Moscow Circus, shopping centers and the list goes on from Broadway to Las Vegas to Macau. His standout projects include the Dancing Cranes in Singapore, the two flying stages for Cirque du Soleil, Walt Disney World theme park, Universal Studios and Seaworld. Further, he designed the whole show set and staging for tours of Beyoncé, the Rolling Stones, Taylor Swift, Queen, Pink and other notables. Billy has been the exclusive structural engineer to the largest owner of Broadway theaters, Shubert, upgrading their theatrical infrastructure to support modern productions and improve safety. Billy has also been instrumental in writing technical standard for the entertainment industry, including updating the far-reaching live event standard and authoring world’s first comprehensive standard for performer flying.

After 9/11, his firm was hired to oversee the engineering effort and inspect all standing buildings in the area. Quoting Billy, “The scene is unimaginable and surreal. When I have been at National Parks, I am in awe. This surpasses awe and makes a 360° turn. It is so immense and seemingly absurd that you just accept it.” Further, I remember Billy telling me that he enabled an elderly man to access his high floor office and reclaim some personal items. He said that he was close to tears as bystanders cheered and applauded these hard hat workers. In 2018, the New York State Society of Professional Engineers awarded Bill “The Engineer of The Year” as one of the top global experts in entertainment engineering. Is it any wonder?

A quote from one of Billy’s employees when he left the firm: “You hired me when I knew absolutely nothing, fought to keep me from being let go, and taught me everything I know about engineering, project management and how to be a good boss. I’ve gained not only from your technical ability and insights but the way you motivate and care about people, work around people’s weaknesses and rely on their strengths. Every single person in our division will tell you that you are the best boss they have ever had.”

After Billy graduated from Cornell, he and I took a trip to Nepal, India, and Kashmir. Billy, in his early twenties, was the youngest member of our tour. As he helped with peoples’ suitcases, befriended everyone, criticized me for not befriending everyone, and made amusing comments, Billy was a favorite member of the group. After two sleepless days of travel from New York to Nepal, our group members happily rested in their rooms for the whole day. However, Billy immediately dragged me to a “monkey temple,” then to the center of Kathmandu where we bargained for necklaces, art, and sweaters. That night, I collapsed right after dinner ‒ while Billy went for a long walk, met a young member of the hotel staff and visited the man’s rural home.

On a visit to an elephant training camp on the Indian border, Billy participated in bathing the elephants in a stream. He laughed uncontrollably when an elephant passed air, causing a large wave of water to wash over him. When a guru stood on his head, crossed his legs and waved his whole body, Carlos (a young Cuban man in our group) yelled out “That’s good for the honeymoon night!” at which Billy all

but fell over with laughter. When an Indian pilot landed our plane with major bumps, Billy said loudly “I should kick him in the ass,” thereby delighting our fellow passengers.

While in Kashmir, we lived in historic house boats from which Billy loved riding in colorful “taxis” at the foot of the Himalayas. He also relished a nighttime adventure which took us down winding alleys and over rooftops to a rug store, where we both bought silk rugs which we use even to this day. When we went to Tharu Village, a primitive community which we reached by boat and then crossing a large field of grass by foot, the lodging could not accommodate all of us. We chose numbers out of a hat, knowing that there would be one loser who would not sleep in a room. Billy was the unlucky “chooser,” so we slept in a primitive hut with an even more primitive outhouse. It was particularly unfortunate for me as diarrhea hit with a vengeance that night. It was also unfortunate for me on another occasion when Billy refused to kill a huge, disgusting locust which invaded our hotel room – this precipitated a shouting match between mother and son, followed by commentary the next morning among guests: “Did you hear those crazy people shouting vulgar comments in the middle of the night?” Ugh!

We had a great, unique experience. I am sure that Billy remembers other anecdotes, including him giving all our badly needed cans of tuna to Wendy’s friend whom we amazingly bumped into at Varanasi, i.e., the Ganges. Billy dragged himself to see the Taj Mahal although he was so exhausted in Agra that he rested for two days in the famous pink Maharaja’s palace/hotel. While I felt quite sorry for him, I went shopping for gorgeous Indian jewelry in an exotic shop, so it wasn’t a complete loss!