Chris Graff, Vice President and Head of Corporate Communications and Community Relations, is retiring this week after many years as a consummate communicator.
For any of you who know him well, you may not be surprised that we didn’t even bother to ask him to participate in one of our 10 Questions features.
He’s not one who is comfortable shining the spotlight on himself.
So we decided to come up with Ten Fun Facts about Chris, who truly embodies our servant leadership culture, our Do Good values and our devotion to community.
His last day with National Life is Friday. He plans to spend the summer enjoying his family’s camp on Peacham Pond. And word has it that he and his wife, Nancy, will also take time this winter soaking up the sun and salt air on the coast of South Carolina.
So, what have we come up with to tell you about Chris? Here goes.
Author and columnist. Before joining National Life in 2006, Chris wrote a book, Dateline Vermont, an account that tells the history of Vermont over the course of the 20th century, a time of transformation from an isolated rural state to the progressive place it is today. (Still available on Amazon, by the way.) He wrote a weekly political column for The Associated Press for many years and then a monthly column for Vermont Business Magazine.
Journalist and TV host. For many years Chris was a journalist. He started his career working for WFAD, a radio station in Middlebury. He landed a job with The Associated Press in 1978 and two years later he was promoted to bureau chief in charge of the Montpelier bureau. Over that time he covered the rise of political luminaries such as Bernie Sanders and Howard Dean among many other issues and personalities. He also appeared regularly on the Vermont Public Television public affairs show Vermont This Week and hosted it from 1992 through 2006. He also hosted many other programs on public TV, including Call the Governor, Report from Washington and a special series called The Governors, featuring interviews with all of the living former governors of Vermont.
Governors. Chris has known 11 of the men and women who served as governor of Vermont. He assures us he was not around at the time of Thomas Chittenden (Vermont’s first governor) and we are working to confirm his report.
An early boss. One of those governors was an early boss of Chris’. Chris graduated from Middlebury College in 1975 with a degree in American history. Jim Douglas was a student at Middlebury in the early ‘70s, as well, and was news director of the college radio station. When a U.S. senator from Vermont died in office, Jim needed someone to help cover the funeral. He recruited Chris and it started Chris on his journalism and communications career. So it’s quite appropriate that they’ve been reunited for these last number of years as Governor Douglas has served on the board of National Life.
Beautiful family. Chris and his wife, Nancy, have lived in Montpelier for more than 40 years. They have two adult children, Garrett and Lindsay (more on them later). Just as importantly, they have a granddaughter! Eliza turned 3 earlier this year and is their pride and joy. Nancy is an author, as well, and has written a number of children’s and young adult novels.
Politics and history. The apple did not fall far from the tree with Chris and Nancy’s son, Garrett. He is a journalist and an author. He is a frequent contributor to CNN. His reporting appears in Politico and other national publications. And he has written several books, including The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of 9/11.
Sharks. Yes, sharks. Chris and Nancy’s daughter, Lindsay, is a marine biologist. Her special area of study is sharks. And Lindsay actually swims with them as part of her work and research. She has spent time in Fiji and also on Cape Cod where she has worked with the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy. She has amazing photos and stories of these creatures.
Sailing. Chris is an avid sailor and has spent many hours on Lake Champlain’s Mallett’s Bay and elsewhere around the lake. He also has a tradition of a fall sailing trip off the coast of Maine. We’ve found that if there’s going to be any threat of a hurricane in New England, it usually falls during the week he’s out on the boat.
Peacham Pond. Peacham Pond is a beautiful, peaceful corner of the world, situated in Vermont’s fabled Northeast Kingdom. Chris and Nancy spend their summers there kayaking, reading, writing, listening to the call of the loons and photographing some of the most spectacular sunsets you could ever hope to see.
Conscience of National Life. Chris not only lives our values each and every day, he helped to come up with them. They are six simple words that fundamentally describe National Life and its approach to the community. Do good. Be good. Make good are words that Chris has brought to life for all of us at National Life. His devotion to a cause greater than any one of us is his gift to us as he earns this well-deserved retirement.
Best to you, Chris, and to Nancy.