Greg Orvis

Greg Orvis was raised on a barrier island, in a small beach town about 20 miles south of Cape Kennedy, Florida by his maternal Grandparents, Pauline and Schuyler "Sky" Orvis Jr. It was they who instilled in him his sense of integrity, and originality, with their primary directive being "Don't just do what everyone else is doing just because everyone else is doing it; do what you know is right." Orvis' grandfather had distinguished himself by crossing the Atlantic at his own expense to volunteer for the French army in 1939, two years before the U.S. joined the Second World War, returning home a local hero, and consequently was elected to the Connecticut State legislature, although he didn't run for office; local residents penciled him in on the ballot. At the age of eight, trusting Orvis' self-taught swimming ability, his grandparents permitted him to go alone to the lifeguard-less beach and swim in the ocean whenever he pleased, which was often; this in the county with the largest wav