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Don Parrish | |
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 Parrish in 2007 | |
| Born | Donald Maltby Parrish Jr. October 27, 1944 |
| Citizenship | American |
| Known for | Adventure |
Donald Maltby Parrish Jr. (born October 27, 1944) is an American adventurer and former technical manager at AT&T Bell Laboratories.
Donald Maltby Parrish Jr. was born on October 27, 1944 in Washington, D.C. to Donald Maltby Parrish and Herdis Borgny Anderson. [1] He grew up in Iowa and Dallas, [2] and he graduated from W.W. Samuell High School in 1962. [3] He graduated from the University of Texas in June 1966 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in mathematics. [4] [5] In June 1968, he graduated from the University of Chicago with a Master of Science degree in Computer Science. [4] [5]
Parrish began working for Bell Labs in 1966. [6] [7] Six years later, in 1972, he transferred to Illinois Bell. [8] [9] During his tenure, AT&T decided to sell its Electronic Switching Systems overseas in 1977. [10] Parrish ultimately retired in 2001 at age 51. [11]
Parrish has visited all 193 United Nations member states. [12]
In 1965, at age 20, he spent the summer in West Germany, working in a metal factory in Hanau. [13] Parrish purchased an old motorcycle and lived in a room in the home of a German family. [14] By 1969, he had traveled through the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe [13] during the Cold War. [15] He made his first trip around the world in 1971. [13] [16]
In 1983, Parrish completed his visit to all 50 U.S. states. [17] By 2011, at age 66, he had visited all United Nations member states, [17] concluding with Mongolia. [18] Parrish had also visited the South Pole on the 100th anniversary of Roald Amundsen's Expedition of 1911. [19]
In November 2013, Parrish visited Conway Reef, located approximately 280 miles away from the main islands of Fiji. According to the Most Traveled People website, he was ranked number one on their list at that time. [20] In February 2017, he completed the Travelers' Century Club list of 325 countries, becoming the 26th person to do so. [21] [22]
As of July 2022, Parrish had visited 937 of the 1,013 locations on the Most Traveled People list, maintaining the top rank. [23] He has also traveled to North Korea, [24] including visits to a war museum and monuments dedicated to Kim Il Sung. [25] During this trip, Parrish was selected by his group to place flowers at the grave of Kim Il Sung’s wife, Kim Jong-suk. [24]
Parrish has been profiled as one of the top adventurers by Daily Herald , [26] BBC, [18] and Die Zeit . [1] He has been featured in: Chicago Tribune , [12] NBC , [27] Daily Herald, [26] Emirates Airlines magazine, [13] The Daily Telegraph [28] and CBS Radio. [29]
Parrish is unmarried with no children [12] [ better source needed ]and lives in the suburbs of Chicago. [30] [ better source needed ]
Parrish is a co-founder of the Libertarian Party of Illinois. [31] He was the Libertarian Party candidate for the United States Senate election in Illinois, 1986. [32] [5]
