Donald Lee Leatherwood is my name.
I’m a young 70 years old. I could probably handle my age better if I weren’t so immature. In grammar school and high school days my interests were boxing, football, motorcycles and motorcycles… did I mention motorcycles?
I took air conditioning and refrigeration in high school. This became a blessing in my future. After a short attempt at University of Tennessee and a very low draft number I joined the Army. I was lucky enough to end up attending one of the first advanced electronic schools in the Army. This is where my high school vocational studies really paid off. Instead of Vietnam I ended up in Northern Italy. Working as a guidance section tech with Sergeant Missile. We fired the last one in Crete, Greece. Then was cross trained to Nike Hercules missile. Let me tell you if you like girls and motorcycles then Italy was the place to be. It just seemed as someone was watching over me. I also ended up marrying a beautiful Italian girl and am still married today 48 years later. After the service I found there weren’t too many many job opportunities for guidance section technicians. I ended up going to work for a Porsche Audi dealership in Knoxville, Tennessee, my hometown.
A year later I placed first in a Porsche Technician Challenge and was awarded an opportunity to be a honorary pit crew member at the 24 hours of Daytona. The team I ended up on was a Porsche 935 with Ted Fields, Danny Ongais and Hurley Haywood. I hauled tires in a Taylor Dunn for 24 hours. After meeting and talking to Hurley he said I should stop by Brumos, the Porsche dealership in Jacksonville, and talk with Sigmund Mayerlen in the service department. This was the start of a great career. Technician, Shop Foreman, race crew member and Collection Manager, what could be described as the best job on the planet.
Retiring in 2022 I started my life without Brumos. Now I spend my time helping various race teams, collecting and restoring motorcycles, living on a private lake and participating in water sports. I enjoy playing chess, golf, traveling, and frequenting my favorite bars. I still help out with some Porsche work. Taking a Porsche to Aspen, Colorado for the inaugural Ice Races is a great example.
As far as things that people might not know about myself is a bit tough as I’m pretty much an open book. Many didn’t know I was adopted at 8 months old. It was only about 20 years ago I had had my birth sister contact me. After that I found out many things about myself I never knew. For instance my birth last name. I knew I was Billy for the first 8 months but never knew the last name. It was Brite… Billy Brite. It sure would have sounded better back in the boxing days had it been… in the corner Billy Boom Boom Brite instead of Donald Leatherwood.🤣🤣
Living here on the first coast has been very good to me. The nice weather, cool wildlife and love the water. I do miss the mountains but for the most part I love Florida.
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Mike is a native First Coaster and was a leading figure in surfing and skateboarding for most of his life. After promoting music for many years on the local music scene, Mike now brings a unique perspective to FirstCoast.Life as a contributing writer.
