By car, by foot, on land and in the sky hear it all from four adventurers "par excellence". Whether it's spanning the globe from New York to Paris in vintage racing cars or competing in car rallies on six continents, from a solo trek through the 6,875 foot Great Western Loop to trekking down the deepest canyon in the world and being the youngest president of the Explorers Club, these men have done it all.
Guests
Bill Secrest started rallying as a junior in college at the University of Kentucky, in 1961, in his new 1962 MGA roadster. He was the navigator in his car, as he could not find a navigator, but he could find a driver. Through the years he continued with the sport off and on as moved around the country, sometimes with the same driver, Dick Foster. They still rally together today, 47 years later.
On three separate occasions Bill has rallied over 20,000 miles in a 12 month period. Through this sport he has rallied on every Continent, save Antarctica. He has rallied to the Artic Ocean twice during the month of February and driven as far south on the earth as an automobile can go. He has rallied to the second highest navigable lake in Kyrgyzstan and ferried his rally car across the highest navigable lake in the world, Lake Titicaca, during the Inca Trail Rally. Rallies have taken him across the four major deserts on the earth, and to three of the lowest points on the earth.
He has competed in 21 of the Great American Race Rallys, winning one. He was one of 40 teams to complete the only race around the world by automobile in the history of man – "Around the World in 80 Days Motor Challenge", in 2000, driving a borrowed car, a 1935 Chrysler Airflow. He and his Daughter Kelly finished 2nd in that event in automobiles built prior to WWII.
In 1998 He and Kelly won $16,000 in the winner take all "Sea to Shinning Sea Rally" from Daytona Beach to San Diego, California. He has been the Rally Master on many rallies here in the USA, as well as the Rally of the Tsars which ran from Berlin to Moscow and back to Berlin. He lives with his wife Dawn on the family farm near South Shore, Kentucky. They too rally together, occasionally, both locally and abroad. They keep a 1959 Studebaker Lark V8 in Peasemore, England, for the European rally's, such as the "Rally of the Tests", and the Winter Challenge.
Bill is a retired Air National Guard fighter pilot, and a retired Trans World Airlines Captain.
Jim Shelly attended Penn State University where he majored in Technical Theater. In 1976 he moved to New York City and worked as the Stage Manager of the Kaufmann Concert Hall at the 92nd Street Y. Moving on in 1980 he took a position as General Manager at Associates and Ferren, a special effects company based in East Hampton, New York. The company produced special effects for film (Deathtrap, The Manhattan Project, Little Shop of Horrors, Star Trek V), theater (Evita, Frankenstein, Cats, Sunday in the Park with George), Rock and Roll (Pink Floyd, Paul McCartney, David Bowie) as well as other interesting endeavors. In 1990 he "resigned from that company and sat down to figure out what I was going to do when I grew up".
Being mechanically minded and organizationally competent, he decided to purchase a local business and repair cars. That year Georgica Services, Ltd was founded. Georgica Getty on Montauk Highway in East Hampton Village, became very well known for its antique car specialty. Many people felt that a weekend in East Hampton wasn't complete without a visit to Georgica Getty to see what cars were in the shop. Sadly Georgica Services lost its lease at the Getty station in 2007, but is are now concentrating exclusively on the repair and restoration of antique and specialty cars in its new facility on Fireplace Road and carrying on daily driver repairs at Sag Harbor Getty. Several years ago some GSL customers began to do long distance road rallies. Today the preparation and support of cars for those events is one of the companies specialties.
When not working on restoring them, Jim loves to drive cars and organize events for other drivers. In 1994 Steven Cohen and he entered the 2nd annual Bridgehampton Road Rally and won the precision time and distance event. After competing for several years, he became the Rally master and has run the event ever since. He is a member of the Vintage Sports Car Society of America as well as the American Antique Automobile Society. He and his wife Julia own several antique cars including a vintage racing MGTD, a Morris Minor Traveler, and a Citreon SM. The couple splits their time between East Hampton and Naples Florida.
Richard Wiese, Master Explorer
In early 2002, Richard Wiese became the youngest president in The Explorers Club's hundred-year history.
During the past four years he has worked in the Yucatan jungle of Mexico putting satellite collars on jaguars; climbed and sampled the most geologically unique volcano in the world, Tanzania's Oldonyo Lengai; and has been a member of two expeditions to Antarctica to core glaciers for the purpose of climatological studies. He was a member of the 2004 Yeronisos Island Expedition, an archaeological dig in Cyprus; and in 2005 led an expedition to bio-prospect for extremophiles and new life forms in Mount Kilimanjaro's crater, resulting in the discovery of 29 new life forms.Most recently he trek down the deepest canyon in the world and was involved in the first microbial survey of Central Park in NYC resulting in the discovery of 202 new and unique life forms.
Wiese's travels have also included completing the first ascent of an unclimbed peak in the Wrangell Mountains of Alaska in 2005 and Cross Country skiing to the North Pole in 2006. He was the U.S. Representative to the Moussem de Tan Tan, a gathering of 45,000 nomadic Arabs in the desert of southern Morocco, by invitation of King Mohammed VI. He is the Organizer/Founder of Central Park "Bio Blitz": 24 hour, cataloguing of all life forms including new species by over 500 world-class scientists and students. In 2003 he founded The Explorers Club Film Festival, and in 2004 he attended the Symposium with the President of Iceland.
During his Presidency, Richard has been honored to speak at the United Nations, the Royal Geographical Society, Bohemian Grove, University of Miami School of Engineering and in the Congress of Argentina.
You can view Richard's website at www.newsweather.com
To view more of Richard's Honors and Accompishments, click here
Jonathan Auerbach, Racer and Managing Director
Auerbach Grayson & Company
Jonathan Auerbach is Managing Director of Auerbach Grayson & Company Incorporated, a brokerage firm which specializes in providing international securities research, execution, and settlement for U.S. institutions through a partnership of over one hundred foreign brokers and banks worldwide.
Founded in 1992, Auerbach Grayson served as the confluence of Jonathan's passion for traveling and his vision of establishing a global partnership. While his business takes him around the world on a number of different transports, Jonathan's most desired method of travel is behind the wheel of his very own vintage cars which he has been collecting for many years.
He is an active member of many road rally organizations; the most prestigious being The Great Race which, in commemoration of the 1908 Great Race, will once again, this May, span the globe from New York City to Paris. While past contesting vehicles include a 1952 Lazzarino and a 1932 Ford Deuce Coupe, Jon will be running The Great Race in a 1960 Mercedes Benz 300d Cabriolet.
Along with Jon's interest in vintage racing, he is an avid supporter of the theater, visual and cinematic arts. These interests have even led to direct involvement as a film maker and actor. Jonathan currently resides in New York with his wife, Annie, and their four children.