Reared in Connecticut, Chris went to high school with current Nederland resident Tara Sergo. In 2016, Chris moved to Colorado, reconnected with Tara, and experienced Nederland for the first time. First time’s the charm – or at least it was for Chris, who quickly settled here.

While back East, he worked for his hometown paper, the Darien News Review, from 1999 to 2001, and later for a Christian magazine, Faith Magazine, from 2006 to 2009. His publishing experience includes working on a printing press and in the mail room.

Chris is also a photographer. “I love to take candid shots at gatherings and events, and I’ve worked as a wedding photographer, a sports photographer, and a product photographer. I have an iPhone and some older film cameras.”

Working for The Mountain-Ear since January, 2021, Chris likes to write about local government, as well as interviewing people and learning their stories. He finds Nederland “is the kind of community that I’ve always wanted to be a part of, having never felt ‘at home’ in the city or the suburbs. Local government meetings here are truly focused on the issues that impact the community and aren’t concerned with divisive politics and egos tainting the discussion.”

He loves that The Mountain-Ear deals with “business development, education, and all that comes with not just keeping a town running but what is best for its future. The issues that arise from trying to maintain the balance of authentic rural life with modern (sometimes invasive) developmental growth.”

In his personal life, Chris says, “I’m a cartoonist and a fiction writer, I also love photography. I’m a big movie nerd and a lover of all kinds of music. I’m also a hiker and general admirer of the outdoors.”

At 41, Chris has lived with Natalie Duplessy for 10 years, and has “two amazing step-kids, Darius (21) and Jho (19), they’re awesome artists and teach me new things all the time.” He works part-time at Mountain Man Outdoor Store, while Natalie is a chef at Salto. “I’ve worked as a retail manager almost my entire professional life,” he says, and “I’ve run my own movie theater [where] the highlight of that career was getting to meet and work with B-movie actor Bruce Campbell.”

Welcome to Nederland Chris. We are pleased to have you as part of the community and working with The Mountain-Ear.