Some of the pieces from the collection that was created
from Terry’s collaboration with Dick Idol. Much of his
work focuses on the use of raw, natural wood.
Then there was the time in the late 1980s
when he and his friends almost bought the
bridge. Terry and a group of friends that included
Bayard Sharp, Richard Beacham, John Watkins,
Guy Batsel, Don Carroll, Mark Shevitski and
others made a formal offer of $2.75 million, with
closing in 30 days, on the former bridge owners’
price of $3.5 million. It was turned down and sold
instead to Gaspar, Inc. for full price. Keep in mind,
this was before the Gasparilla Island Bridge
Authority existed and there was much animosity
about all things bridge-related within the
community.
“I think it’s just as well we didn’t get it,” he
laughed. “Looking back now I think it might have
made some of our friends dislike us. I remember
the day I found out we didn’t get it I went to
Richard Beacham’s house to break the bad news.
Richard said, ‘Terry, don’t worry. The only reason
you and I exist in this world is because someone
will always pay retail.’”
He has been making his own furniture since
1974, when he resigned from a job with
Armstrong World Industries (then known as
Armstrong Cork Industries) to become his own
boss.