PRINTA touch of early success
March 20, 2008 | 12:00 a.m. CST
Las Vegas promises that what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. Unfortunately, digital cameras and gossipy ex-boyfriends have ensured my Sin City exploits joined tacky souvenirs on the voyage home with me. In fact, the only thing that did manage to stay in Vegas was my money.
Like me, James Mackey’s Vegas experiences didn’t all stay there. Unlike me, he left his dignity intact and brought home more cash than he spent.
The 22-year-old Columbia resident whose baby face belies his cunning poker skills is profiled in this week’s feature. Though it would be easy for him to live a Cribs-style life complete with a garage full of cars, the unusually wise 20-something has limited his extravagances to a Corvette and a hot tub. As the weather gets warmer, we only hope that the bubbly tub gets filled with a Vegas-style boatload of bikini-clad ladies.
Success has also come young for Illinois-based band The Redwalls. Although the band has been playing for seven years, its members were all just in high school when they started. Now, the British invasion-inspired rockers have been compared to industry favorites including Oasis and played at this year’s South By Southwest. Unlike Mackey, their shaggy Britpop look gives the kids an air of jaded music veterans, belying their tender age.
Of course, for most of us, achievement — whether personal or professional — doesn’t come quickly. Although Major Jackson, a critically acclaimed poet, began teaching writing while a grad student at the University of Oregon a little more than 10 years ago, it wasn’t until 2002 that he published his first collection of poetry, Leaving Saturn. It took another four years to publish his second, Hoops.
It’s comforting to know that, like me, not everyone hits their career stride before the age of 25.
