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My Piedmont Flight Attendants By Sam Blount, Jr. “Sam – The Picture Man” |
Legends about Piedmont employees are numerous.
Legendary passengers are much rarer phenomena. We met one the other day. We had heard about him for several years. And when he recently appeared in the seat next to us, we were instantly sorry we hadn't found him before.
S. M. Blount. Jr., according to his business card, is president of his own consulting engineering firm. The card gives his office address in Raleigh, North Carolina. He says he works in Louisville, Kentucky and lives on Piedmont airplanes. He proves it with pictures.
Sam, known as the picture man, has the largest collection of Piedmont flight attendant photos outside the corporate mug files. He carries hundreds of the candid, color prints with him. As we looked through his collection, he gave us the current name of every one of his Piedmont girls! When we couldn't put a name and face together, he'd say, "But, she got married three months ago." His incredible memory is as fascinating as the wonderful facial expressions he captures with his camera.
Sam loves to talk about Piedmont and his "girls. He doesn't like to talk about himself and adamantly refused to let us have his picture taken.
Asked about when he started taking the pictures, Sam said it was in the early 1970's. Before we could ask why, he told us he prefers to fly on the YS-11s, “cause they're not as fast and I have more time to play." Flying with Sam is like playing, unless you're trying to find out about him. We hope what we sifted from his conversation is more fact than fiction, but only he knows for sure.
Sam showed us his much-used Vivitar pocket camera. He keeps it in a briefcase which contains more magic tricks and games than engineering drawings or business papers. In addition to being a superb candid photographer, Sam does magic tricks with ropes and Piedmont swizzle sticks painted in disappearing ink.
With the charming accent that's definitely east of Raleigh, Sam says he's originally from Beaufort County, North Carolina. He is married and his wife thoroughly enjoys seeing his Piedmont pictures. They have two children, a son and a daughter, who are 10 and 12. A mechanical, civil and electrical engineer, Sam is a rarity who went to the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill and then to N. C. State in Raleigh.
When he's not on a Piedmont flight, Sam admits to "just sitting and watching the river go by." He has an apartment overlooking the Ohio River in Louisville and a cottage by the Pamlico Sound in Little Washington, North Carolina.
Then, our too short flight landed in Raleigh and we couldn't find out any more about the most delightful Piedmont passenger we've ever met.
The next time you are on a flight that's going or coming to or from Raleigh or Louisville, look for Sam. He'll be wearing the biggest smile on board.
Meeting him will make your day.
And, if anyone can snap a black and white photo of Sam, we'd love to have it. The Pied-monitor hasn't had a picture of a legend in a long time.
