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Gregory Allen Wray was born on
October 5th 1957 to Bruce and Millie Wray, while Bruce was attending
Michigan State University. To this day, Greg has always felt a strong loyalty to
the sports teams at MSU, because as he puts it he was “Conceived on the grounds
of Michigan State University.” His family spent 9 of his first 12 years in
Illinois, first in Rockford (where his only sibling, Brian, was born), then in
Skokie, where he developed a still evident fondness for the Chicago sports
franchises, most notably the Cubs and the Bears. He has lived in Michigan since
age 12, graduating from Swan Valley High School (Saginaw) in 1975. After a
couple uneventful years at Alma College and a couple of equally uneventful years
working in a warehouse, Greg graduated from a Technician program in December of
1981. He completed his second year of training through the California College
program, and became an honest to goodness RRT when he passed the Registry exam
given in June of 1984. He met his future writing partner, as well as his future
life partner, when he began working at his present employer in June of 1986.
Greg married his wife Catherine in 1990, and they have 4 children: Adam (born
8/12/88), fraternal twins Jacob and Joshua (born 12/5/91), and Rachel (born
4/20/93). Catherine’s sister Jenny (born 5/27/79 with Down’s Syndrome) also
lives with the Wray family. At an early age, Greg showed an interest (but no
real talent) in writing poetry. When he discovered popular music, he began
attempting to write song lyrics. Except in rare instances, these efforts were
known only to Greg himself. He did write a dozen or so songs with a piano
playing friend by the name of Rick Schellhammer while at Alma in the mid ‘70s,
but the less said about those works the better. Greg’s interest in writing laid
dormant for over a decade until he and Dave started their nonsense at work.
Greg’s earliest musical influence was Johnny Cash, until one of his best friends
from high school (Dave York, who later married Greg’s cousin Sybil) introduced
him to the genius of Elton John. He now includes the works of Queen, Kiss,
Aerosmith, Whitesnake, Def Leppard, John Denver, Neil Sedaka, and Paul McCartney
(solo and fab four) in with Johnny and Elton as those artists he most enjoys.
Although Greg is well aware of the fact that there is a much greater than
99.999% chance that he will never make one red cent with any of his songs, he
has prepared an acceptance speech in the event that he one day wins an award for
his song writing efforts. A text of the speech follows. We hope you enjoy it.
Thank you Ladies and Gentlemen in the
audience and of the academy for this honor. With the exception of my marriage to
my beautiful wife Catherine, and the birth of our equally beautiful children
Adam, Joshua, Jacob, and Rachel, this is the second happiest moment of my life.
The happiest moment came when I was notified that I had passed the last
examination required to become a Registered Respiratory Therapist. So I would
like to take this opportunity to thank the people that made this most cherished
event possible. Jolene Klump, a gorgeous lady that believed in me when nobody
else did; Donna Nickel, who took me into the program at the last minute; Joe
Bell, who rescued our entire class from cancellation when Donna had to leave the
school; Harry Castanier and Maria Beauvais, who gave me my first jobs in
Respiratory Therapy; and the trio of Diane Nold, Carole Blahunka, and Rich
Weiler, who helped me to become a better Respiratory Therapist, and therefore a
better human being. Also, hi Mom, and thank you to God and His Son Jesus Christ,
who make everything possible. Thank you.
You can reach Greg via e-mail at
gregwray@webtv.net |
