Friends of ours suggested that I might write an article on a friend of theirs who calls himself The Crazy Rock Guy. This sounded like an intriguing topic so, of course, I said “yes.”
Soon, I met Dan Devou for a sit-down interview which was, to say the least, an amazing experience. Dan is far from his personal moniker of The Crazy Rock Guy – he is like an artist artichoke with layers of creativity.
Dan was raised in Los Altos near San Francisco. After serving in WWII his father worked in a government job and his mother was the Activities Director at his high school.
He attended De Anza Community College, but ended up graduating from San Jose State College with a degree in Communications. He spent 2 ½ years in the Navy as an Aviation Reservist, receiving multi-engine training. He would eventually start flying jets.
While in college he worked for Memorex and after college he secured a full-time job there, working in the computer data center, a job he held for 18 years until the company was absorbed by the Sperry-Rand Corporation.
But, wanting to exercise his wood working talent, Dan opened a wood working business – about which he says “Don’t turn a hobby into a job!” Nonetheless, Dan had the business for ten years. However, during the last twenty-two years Dan has been involved with medical billing for various physician offices.
In between work time Dan belongs to the Rotary Club of SaddleBrooke (as does his wife Lynn). Through the Rotary Club, Dan acts as a mentor in Physics for students from San Manuel. He also serves on the Rotary New Generations Committee.
Now here’s the Artistic Artichoke part!
About a year ago Dan, perhaps a latent geologist, started collecting rocks from his yard and stacking them artistically. Friends and neighbors began to take notice of his wonderful creativity. His rocks are various shapes and sizes and each rock stack shows Dan’s artistic eye for form.
And, besides woodworking – he created a mesquite table with turquoise inlay for their home – Dan does “organic light photography,” which is the practice of taking pictures using existing light or ambient indoor lighting, rather than flashes or strobes.
Dan also does ground level mosaic rock flowers in yards and, as well, he enjoys photographing dead flowers for their artistic formations.
Dan’s father was a part-time jazz musician and played the base, the trumpet and the piano. One day, as young Dan was watching his father perform, Dan pointed to the guitar and said “I want to play that!” This led to guitar lessons and, then, rock bands during his high school years. Dan has written about 100 songs! Dan still performs in and around SaddleBrooke.
Dan’s brother is a modern art artist and one of Dan’s two daughters is a graphic artist.
When asked about a second chance at a career Dan said that he would have liked to have designed artistic furniture in the manner of Japanese furniture designer and builder, George Nakashima.
Dan and Lynn have two daughters, two grandsons and a granddaughter on the way. Besides mentoring in Physics and pursuing his artistic outlets Dan enjoys golfing.
Tucson's newest Shake Shack gets neighbors
