Here yesterday. Gone today.
Thom Wise, 56, is a Denver guy with a terminal case of wanderlust. He leaves today for an extended stay in Beijing.
Seems Wise has been on the move since he graduated from George Washington High School. Denverites remember him for being a partner at Dudley’s restaurant in the ’80s with Blair Taylor, then Ruby nightclub with Lannie Garrett, punctuated with a trip around the world. He came back to be the restaurant guy at 5280 magazine; theater and restaurant critic at the Rocky Mountain News; and radio yakker on KOA and KHOW for years.
Along the way he took a trip to South America, Africa and the Middle East. Home again to work on and off for Cliff Young at the Diamond Steakhouse. Then off to Mongolia, then editor of Las Vegas Magazine, a hitch with FEMA in North Dakota, a job in L.A. as an estate manager for a wealthy widow.
He was home again Monday, but he’s off today to China to work in a new art space.
All this time, he kept coming back to Denver between shifts, then leaving with goodbye parties.
“Yeah, I had to stop the goodbye parties,” he says. “It got kind of redundant.”
You can keep up with him on Facebook.
“Here we go again,” he says — and he means it.
Doctor Singleton
Word comes this way that Denver Post chairman/publisher William Dean Singleton will receive an honorary doctoral degree on May 7 from the University of Utah.
Singleton will receive the doc nod for business. He’s also chairman/president of The Salt Lake Tribune.
Former University of Colorado president Gordon Gee, a Utah native, also gets an honorary doctorate for law.
So what does Singleton think of his first doctorate?
“It’s not something I expected,” he says. “I am humbled and honored. My daughter (Paige) is a junior at the University of Utah, so I told her I was going to get my degree before she gets hers.”
Coco
Tix for Conan O’Brien’s comedy stops in Boulder (May 10) and Denver (May 11) sold out fast, priced $39.50-$79.50.
But there were a handful of “VIP/Meet & Greet” tickets going for $700.65 (including fees) — EACH. And Boulder had some of the special tix for sale Monday.
What, the $33 million severance package from NBC wasn’t enough?
Some reports say that all proceeds for the 30-date tour will go to the 40-odd staffers who lost their jobs. And the “Meet & Greet” ticket includes a pre-performance cocktail party, a photo op with Coco, and a front-and-center seat. But $700.65 for a stand-up act?
City spirit
The Indulgers and Under a Blood Red Sky — a U2 tribute band — play Wednesday night at Fado Irish Pub — a guaranteed blowout. . . . Sez who: “St. Patrick’s Day is an enchanted time — a day to begin transforming winter’s dreams into summer’s magic.” — Adrienne Cook
Bill Husted’s column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Friday. You can reach him at 303-954-1486 or bhusted@denverpost.com. Take a peek at Husted’s next column at blogs .
