Stuart Omans

Stuart Omans is an early investor in Sky Fund LLC and an investor in other private and public companies. Stuart Omans' path from total failure as a Chicago high school student (flunking three classes in one semester, something of a record for a middle class kid of suburban Chicago), to Northwestern University PhD, before founding the acclaimed Orlando Shakespeare Theater, must be some kind of testimony to life's infinite possibility. As Professor Emeritus and former Chair of English at the University of Central Florida, he's written extensively on theater, Shakespeare, education, and the arts. He's won awards and fellowships from The National Endowment for the Humanities, the Folger Shakespeare Library, and the Danforth Foundation, among others. He founded the Orlando Shakespeare Festival, now Orlando Shakespeare Theater (owned by Walt Disney). Along the way his education has been enriched by working as a ditch digger, professional baker (not at the same time), and a salesman of outrageous men's fashions (Zoot suits and pink alligator shoes) at Chicago's famous Smoky Joe's. He and his artist - wife of fifty-one years are parents of three wonderful sons who have helped produce five fascinating grandchildren. Stu and Jan live in Winter Park, Florida and the rural mountains of North Carolina. Ol' Man on a Mountain is his first full length extended memoir. Out three months, it has received rave reviews with 22 five star reviews on Amazon.