Duda dreams of dancing in the Keys

Published 6:26 pm Friday, March 2, 2012

Editor’s note: Fifty Plus is a weekly feature that provides a look at area senior citizens, their accomplishments and their life experiences. Fifty Plus prospects are asked to fill out a questionnaire concerning their lives.

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This week’s Fifty Plus takes a look at Carol Duda, a retiree who lives in Washington.

Where are you from originally?

Syracuse area of central New York.

When did you move here? Why?

1990. To get out of the snow. Husband was diabetic and would lose legs.

To what clubs/church do you belong?

First United Methodist Church. Haven’t been a noncaregiver long enough to join much. I do Meals on Wheels once a week.

Education (list schools, starting with high school)

Fulton High School, Class of 1964. Art Institute of Pittsburgh.

If you weren’t doing what you are doing now, what would you be doing?

Working.

If you had a million dollars, what would you do with it?

Give to animal causes. Travel some.

What is the thing most people don’t know about you?

I’m shy.

What is your favorite food?

Pizza or anything Italian.

What’s the last book you read?

“The Mountain Between Us” by Charles Martin.

What is your favorite TV show?

“Bones.”

Where would you go on your dream vacation?

Florida Keys.

What is your pet peeve?

Liars.

What’s the best advice you ever received and who gave it to you?

Do unto others as you would have others do to you.

What’s the biggest difference between life as a senior as opposed to below age 30?

I could dance better when I was younger.

Compiled by Mike Voss

About Mike Voss

Mike Voss is the contributing editor at the Washington Daily News. He has a daughter and four grandchildren. Except for nearly six years he worked at the Free Lance-Star in Fredericksburg, Va., in the early to mid-1990s, he has been at the Daily News since April 1986.
Journalism awards:
• Pulitzer Prize for Meritorious Public Service, 1990.
• Society of Professional Journalists: Sigma Delta Chi Award, Bronze Medallion.
• Associated Press Managing Editors’ Public Service Award.
• Investigative Reporters & Editors’ Award.
• North Carolina Press Association, First Place, Public Service Award, 1989.
• North Carolina Press Association, Second Place, Investigative Reporting, 1990.
All those were for the articles he and Betty Gray wrote about the city’s contaminated water system in 1989-1990.
• North Carolina Press Association, First Place, Investigative Reporting, 1991.
• North Carolina Press Association, Third Place, General News Reporting, 2005.
• North Carolina Press Association, Second Place, Lighter Columns, 2006.
Recently learned he will receive another award.
• North Carolina Press Association, First Place, Lighter Columns, 2010.
4. Lectured at or served on seminar panels at journalism schools at UNC-Chapel Hill, University of Maryland, Columbia University, Mary Washington University and Francis Marion University.