Brian Jacob's Personal Page

BIOGRAPHY
I was born in Livermore, California in the late 1960s. Before my second birthday, my family moved to Sydney, Australia, where we lived for almost nine years before moving to Columbus, Ohio. I spent the next twenty years in Ohio. After graduating from college and getting married, I moved to the Puget Sound region. I lived all around the Seattle area for nine years, before returning to Columbus in mid-2006. My interests are rather eclectic, and include my web site All Things Thurl, travel, genealogy, dance, writing, and record collecting.

ALL THINGS THURL
One of my biggest hobbies has been creating and maintaining All Things Thurl, the only web site devoted to the life and work of Thurl Ravenscroft. Most anyone visiting this page has probably come from All Things Thurl to learn more about the author of the site. But for anyone who has discovered this page through another source, Thurl Ravenscroft (seated beside me in the picture to the right) was best-known as the voice of Tony the Tiger, or the singer of "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch" in the animated Christmas special How the Grinch Stole Christmas.

I created All Things Thurl in August 1996 and have been continually adding new images and sound clips. In August 2002, just in time for the sixth anniversary, I reorganized the content and created a uniform look for the site. Early in 2007, I again made a major update to the site, this time converting all the sound clips to the mp3 format.

TRAVEL
I enjoy travel, both domestic and international. I have visited 45 of the 50 U.S. states and several foreign countries. The five states which I have not yet visited are: Alabama, Alaska, Delaware, Louisiana, and Mississippi. I have also traveled to the following foreign countries: Australia, Canada, China, Denmark, England, Finland, Japan, Kenya, New Zealand, Norway, Russia, Scotland and Sweden.

GENEALOGY
I became interested in genealogy shortly before my maternal grandmother passed away in 1999. I have been able to trace my family back to Prussia, Canada, England, and Ireland. I have compiled a Genealogy page that includes pictures of some of my ancestors.

DANCE
I've recently returned to the world of social dance. While living in Tacoma, WA, I took a few years of dance lessons. I'm still a big fan of East Coast Swing (the first dance I learned), but am beginning to enjoy more of the smooth dances, particularly Tango, Foxtrot, and Waltz. My knowledge of Latin dance is limited, but I still get out on the floor for Cha Cha, Salsa, Rumba, and the occasional Merengue. I've just started learning West Coast Swing. So far I am doing fine, but I suspect I will always prefer East Coast Swing.

WRITING
Over the last few months of 2007, I completed a Fantasy novel. I'm still in the process of editing it. Until I get closer to trying to get it published, I won't say any more here.

RECORD COLLECTING
I am an avid collector of Disney records and will buy almost anything released on either the Disneyland or Buena Vista label. I am also interested in recordings featuring Thurl Ravenscroft. Not coincidentally, many Disney records feature Thurl.

CONTACT ME
I try to respond to e-mail within a day or two. Feel free to contact me at bejacob@aol.com.