Des Reilly was trained as a chemist. Years later, he began another career, in advertising and as a college professor, because, in his heart, he always wanted to be a writer.

   Born in 1919 in Poole, Dorset, England, the eldest son of Irish parents, Reilly moved with his family to Ireland in 1923 when his father, a research chemist, was appointed assistant state chemist to the recently created Irish Free State.

   The following year, the family moved to Cork when Reilly's father was named to the faculty of University College as professor of chemistry, serving in that position for 35 years.

   "Writing has always been a part of my life, beginning with high school and college publications," Reilly said. "My first newspaper article was published at the age of 11," he remembered, noting that, "during my school and college days, I was a regular freelance contributor to Irish newspapers and magazines and to the Irish radio network."

   But there's another side to Des Reilly - the acting side.

   "I've always enjoyed performing," he said. "I think I've suppressed my wish to be an actor, but it surfaced in the fact that in college in Ireland, I took several evening courses in acting at the Abbey Theatre."

   No wonder, therefore, that his favorite place in Orange County is UNC's Paul Green Theatre.

   Founded early in the last century, the original Carolina Playmakers, a troupe of students, faculty and townspeople, was created to produce works of students in a special playwriting program at UNC.

   The success of this group led to the establishment of the university's Department of Dramatic Art, one of the first programs in the country to offer training in performance as part of a university curriculum. Some 50 years later, the department established PlayMakers Repertory Company as its professional unit and one of the earliest American professional theatres on a university campus.

   "I love PlayMakers," Reilly said, explaining that, although "many people want only to be amused at the theater - want the play to come out happily - that's not important to me. I think the PlayMakers' actors do a remarkable job. They produce a good mix of plays - classics, Shakespeare, modern. It's fun and keeps me alert to see all the different things they can do."

   And, he added with a grin, "you see everyone you know there."

   Growing up in Ireland, where he received his bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees in chemistry from the National University of Ireland, Reilly served as a lieutenant in the Irish Army in ordnance research and development from 1942 to 1946, working on substitute explosives.

   After his discharge from the service, Reilly came to the United States. Here, he spent seven years in teaching and chemical research.

   But, "I never really liked chemical research," he admitted, "I really wanted to write." And, so, when the opportunity arose, he went to work as a technical writer for FMC in New York City, and then as advertising manager for all chemical divisions of Olin in Stamford, Conn. "But my father never forgave me for becoming an ad man," he said.

   While working in New York City and living on Long Island, Reilly "taught in Adelphi College's master's program conducted on the Long Island Railroad.

   "I taught commuters," he said. "The problems I encountered were different from those in a traditional classroom: I taught in long railroad cars; evening courses were difficult after the students had spent a long day at work; and if the train were late or stuck on the tracks, I had to teach longer than planned.

   "But," he added with a wry grin, "no one was late to class."

   For 10 years during the 1960s, he was a member and eventually president of the Board of Education of the South Huntington (Long Island) schools, "at that time the fastest growing school district in the United States," he noted.

   From 1976 to 1986, he "undertook a new and challenging career" as a marketing professor in the business schools of Fairfield (Conn.) University and Western Connecticut State University.

   "I enjoyed teaching. It was the best part of my life," he said. "I came from the business side so I could tell my students more than academics and textbooks could about 'real life.' I used The Wall Street Journal as case histories," he said, adding that, "My biggest challenge during those years was learning to use computers."

   His first wife died in 1965; in 1970, he married Doris Citarella. "I was very happy in my first marriage," he said, "and now with my second wife. We've been married more than 30 years and have a good life."

   They are now retired and living in Carolina Meadows, a retirement community in northern Chatham County, where he "plays a lot of golf and serves on several committees."

   And his love of writing enables him to continue contributing to his world in retirement. He has written a history of Carolina Meadows, edited and produced that community's newsletter, the Meadowlark, and "enjoys reporting on residents [of Carolina Meadows] and their activities as a Meadowlark columnist and in the local press."

   Contact:
   Michelle Westrom
   Marketing Director
   (919) 370 - 7160