Central High School
Class Of 1980
Zack Van Eyck a.k.a. Vince Sexton
Residing In: | Burbank, CA USA |
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Homepage: |
IMDB.me/zackvaneyck |
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Occupation: | screenwriter and sometimes director/producer |
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Children: | Emily Rose, born 1990 (in Woodstock); Samantha Joy, born 1994 (in Pecos, N.M.). They currently live More…in Los Angles and Phoenix, respectively. |
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After working in journalism in various parts of the country for many years, I finally moved to Los Angeles in 2007 to live the dream I had when I was growing up on Main Street in Woodstock (across the street from the movie theater) -- I became a screenwriter in Hollywood! For more on that, please see: IMDB.me/zackvaneyck
In April 2019 I moved back to Woodstock to live at my Mom's cabin down on the river past Burnshire's Dam (on Hickory Lane). Mom moved in with her BF in New Market a couple years ago and the cabin was vacant so I decided to see if I could live here and write, returning to L.A. as needed. So far, it's working out great! And it means I can serve on the reunion committee this time. (I'm in charge of hiring the cover band so if you have any band or song-list requests, let me know!)
As some of you know, I also lived in Woodstock 1990-1991 and was the Shenandoah County bureau chief for the Northern Virginia Daily. The oldest of my two daughters was born here. After that, it was on to the Santa Fe New Mexican and then 13 years working for the afternoon paper in Salt Lake City. I also worked for papers in Wyoming, Oregon and Alaska. Of the many places I've lived, Oregon is my favorite, although Southern California is awesome, too, and I'm slowly getting used to sharing my daily life with insects and small reptiles here at the cabin.
Some of you may be thinking you're really getting old. "I don't remember no Zack Van Eyck in our graduating class." Well, I was really quiet back then. And I wasn't there. I did spend one year at Central, eighth grade, before we moved to Alaska. And you kind folks who knew me then, and from fourth-through-seventh grades at Woodstock Elem. (where I was known by my birth name, Vince Sexton), have been nice enough to let me attend your reunions (in 1985, 2005, 2010 and 2015). Without you, I would have no reunion at all! I went to four high schools in Alaska. And at the last one, I took only three classes and graduated mid-year, so I really knew no one. I switched schools that year because Bartlett High, where I graduated, was closer to my job at The Anchorage Times, where I worked throughout high school as a sportswriter.
My memories of Central include Mr. Catlett's rather vulgar jokes in P.E., which most of the other guys found hysterical; having short hair for the first time in my childhood and yet still getting beat up constantly, mostly by a short dude named Dinky Dalton, still not sure why he hated me so much; getting a D in science simply for not putting pages into a notebook; listening to David Bowie on the cafeteria juke box; correctly predicting it would be many years before I would lose my virginity; going to France, where the ninth-graders gave me the superb but unfortunately appropriate nickname of "Pee Wee" (for my height at the time, mind you, nothing else).
I have many more memories of Woodstock Elem. ... Does anyone else remember the day I literally ran away from school in fifth grade when Ms. Holt said I had to copy everyone's essay on sportsmanship simply because I reminded her that she promised we could play basketball for the second half of P.E. and it was already 10 minutes past the halfway point of the class period? I'll never forget seeing Waldo Bowers tooling down Main Street in his '60s four-door sedan, looking for the runaway! Dude, I was right there on the sidewalk, how could you miss me? ... I remember writing comedic short stories and reading them in front of the class at least once a week. Thank you for being my audience! That kept me sane. ... I remember getting called into the vice principal's office in sixth or seventh grade for daring to look at a Playboy smuggled into school by other kids -- not sure which ones, but I do remember Johnny Carter and Kenny Hoover also being in the vice principal's office (and it seemed like they did most of the talking). ... I remember getting the crap beat out of me for having long hair, by David Walker and Terrel Munson mostly, but there were others. ... I remember protesting the order to "wear a tie" at seventh-grade graduation by placing a Detroit Tigers sticker on my white tie. ... I remember the day Donna Farley chose David Wisman over me. My first broken heart. (But no hard feelings, Wiz! Still love you, Donna!) ... And Amy Burch, my very first Woodstock friend, pointed out that in the first draft of this profile I forgot to mention my book "Miracle Team," written in 6th grade and published in 7th, about the fictional athletic exploits of my real-life friends (although not all names were spelled correctly, lol). The writing is crap but the photos are hilarious, timeless and worth checking out again; always a fun reunion activity. ... But mostly I remember the look of horror and grief that seemed to cross the faces of teachers whenever they had to deal with me. I don't know why I was such a puzzle, really. I was just a precocious kid with creative ideas who felt free to express himself and wasn't afraid to question authority, that's all, lol.
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Posted on: Aug 22, 2015 at 4:35 AM
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