Jon Reddick
Jonathon "Jon" Wayne Reddick born June 23, 1969 in Boynton Beach, Florida to Sharon and Kenneth Reddick, Sr. as their only son. He has four half siblings from his father's previous marriage: Tony Reddick, Sandy Reddick, Debbie Reddick and Kenneth Reddick, Jr..
Jon is regularly well-known (and slightly less regularly well-liked) for his acerbic wit, and an often caustic sense of sarcasm.
Throughout his life he has been labeled with the moniker of "nerd" or "geek" long before the technology and internet boom of the 1990's rendered those names, and their associated personality traits, enviable. In short, Jon was a nerd long before being a nerd was cool.
Childhood
Although both of his parents and their extended families were born, raised & lived in Missouri, Jon's parents moved south just in time for him to be born at exactly 3:33am on June 23, 1969 in a hospital on the east coast of Florida. He was the first and only child of 18-year-old Sharon Reddick, and the fifth child (and third son) of Ken Reddick, Sr.
His early childhood was spent as a snowbird as his family moved north in the summers and back to Florida in the winters. But at the urging of his maternal grandfather, his parents did finally settle down in central florida, where Jon was raised a Floridian for the rest of his formative years. Most of his childhood was spent in the heart of central Florida living in Loughman, a small census-designated place (apparently not even worth being a town) on the northeast corner of Polk County right near the Polk/Osceola border.
Jon led largely average and boring childhood in his rural family home on Pete's Lane.
During the school break of the Christmas holidays in the late seventies and early eighties he would travel with his father, then a professional long-haul truck driver, on a run up the east coast, always returning home just in time for Christmas morning with the rest of the family. It was during one of these holiday truck driving vacations with his father that, in a smoky hallway leading to the restroom of an anonymous truck stop that Jon first encountered a Space Invaders video game cabinet. He was captivated not only with the game but with the technology behind it, and this started an early passion for all things video and electronic.
Education
*Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL
- 1990-1993, BS in General Communication
- Polk Community College, Winter Haven, FL
- 1987-1990, AA in Mass Communication
- 1984-1987, Band Manager, AP English, CP Calculus
- Haines City Junior High
- Haines City Middle School, Haines City, FL
- Davenport Elementary School, Davenport, FL
- Central Avenue Elementary School, Kissimmee, FL
- Some Elementary School in Uniontown, Kansas[???]
- Some Elementary School in Nevada, Missouri[???]
Occupations
- Thomson Grass Valley, Jacksonville, FL (Contracted via ATS Tech, Inc.) : April 2007 - Present
- Quality Assurance Engineer at Thomson Integrated Production Solutions (IPS)
- WCTV Television, Tallahassee, FL : November 1991 - April 2007
- Production Manager/Senior Newscast Director
- Radisson Hotel Tallahassee, Tallahassee, FL (Now Park Plaza Hotel) : June 1990 - November 1991
- Room Service Waiter, Dining Room Staff
- Ramada Resort Maingate (now Ramada Resort Main Gate) : August 1987 - March 1990 (sporadically)
- Room Service Waiter, Dining Room Staff
Hobbies & Interests
- Is a huge fan of the music of Alan Parsons
- In 1996 followed Alan Parsons around six cities through the midwest on the United States tour for the (then) new album, "On Air"
A Sample of Alan Parsons Music
- Collects, listens to and enjoys Old Time Radio (OTR) programs from the 40's, 50's & early 60's
- Is a fan of the comedy troupe, Firesign Theatre
- Is a fan of the comedy troupe, Monty Python
- Stamps & tracks currency via Where's George?
Residences
- Jacksonville, FL
- Harpers Ferry Lane, June 2007 - Present
- Tallahassee, FL
- Lucky Debonair Trail, 2001-07
- Donovan Drive
- Concord Road
- Hidden Place
- Forest Hills Apartments (1817 W. Call Street, #B6)
- Broward Hall Dormitory, Florida State University
- Loughman, FL
- Davenport, FL
- Uniontown, KS
- Longwood, FL
- Peace Valley Campground, 1973
- Kissimmee, FL
- Winter Park, FL, 1972
- Columbus, GA, 1972
- Hannibal, MO
- Olive Street, 1970-71
- Nevada, MO, 1969
- Canton, MO, 1969
- Lake Worth, FL, 1969
Marriage/Children
In the fall of 1990, Jon met his future wife, Laurie "Ro" Reddick nee Normand, when both attended an early meeting of the USS Khai Tam (then Shuttle Heritage).
After a long courtship, they were married in a quiet, legal ceremony in the Leon County Courthouse (Tallahassee) on September 26, 1997, and then had a second ceremony with all friends in attendance on November 1, 1997. They have one child, daughter Dana Kathyrn Reddick, born January 17, 1998.
Achievements
- Commanding Officer of the USS Khai Tam, 1992-1995 & 1997-2005
- Florida Bandmasters Association All-Star Marching Band, 1985-86
- Attained rank of "Life" in Boy Scouts of America, 1978-86
- National Junior Honor Society, 1982
Affiliations
- Killearn Poker Tour (member, coordinator)
- Mandarin Poker Tour (member, coordinator)
- Reddick Poker & Gaming (founder)
- Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster (member)
- Magic Drum & Bugle Corps Contra Bass, 1990 (member)
Trivia
- Has a 1/4" scar on the palm of his left hand under his ring finger from a hematite wedding band breaking while performing a magic trick
- His Xbox Live gamertag is REDdimension
- Jon can sleep through almost anything, including three separate alarm clocks going off simultaneously.
- He also snores loudly enough to wake fellow Khai Tam crew members at Trek conventions. Though they might try nudging him gently, or even smacking him with pillows, his Klingon Opera usually continues unabated. See above.
- Co-creator (with Jason Harden) of the word, "scrit"
- Has an fascination with apes, gorillas & monkeys (likely stemming from an adolescent Donkey Kong fixation)
Awards
Related Links
- REDdimension, Jon's primary domain
- C.O.N.T.R.A.D.I.C.T.I.O.N., Jon's Weblog
- Jon's Alan Parsons Scrapbook at Alistair Young's Encylopaedia Projectologia