Q & A with Robin Ashmore

Principal

How did you get here? I came to Denver by way of Paris in 1997. After living abroad for 8 years, I finally got homesick for my country. It was hard to re-adjust at first. At the time I had two kids under the age of three. We wanted a total change of lifestyle (i.e. a backyard, a chance to be entrepreneurs) and opted for Denver mostly because of my brother but also for Benoit the skiing was hugely important.

What was the best job you ever had? The best job I ever had (before this one) was as a reporter for NPR. It was the early 90's and I got the "Postcard from Paris" beat. Though possibly the worst paying job I ever had, it was exciting and challenging and I had tremendous editorial liberty. One month I was covering cider production in Normandy and the next I was meeting with the president of the International Monetary Fund who was explaining the advent of this new currency called the "Euro". One of my favorite people in the world, Elizabeth Blair, was my editor and she still works at NPR!

If you could re-invent yourself totally, what would you be? That’s easy! I would be a font designer ... I have a secret typeface fetish. I just think it would be fascinating to dress up the alphabet, ponder ligatures, ascenders, descenders and the incredible prevalence of Helvetica. Ask me another one.

What would you say is the most surprising thing about you? It might be that I speak Haitian-Creole. I’m a bit rusty now, but here are some fun Haitian-Creole phrases should you ever need them:

Ba-m mango-a: Give me the mango

...and this one works on both a practical level and on a more metaphysical level:

Kinbé toujou pa lagé: Hold tight, don't let go

That was from a voodoo priest and is still sound advice in these times!

Your thoughts on food, and the preparation of it? My cooking style can best be described as "ad lib". I feel unpardonably geekish if I am following a recipe. I need a lot of time to excel in this particular line of cuisine and once the dish has a little flair or mystery in it, I like to let people guess how it got there. The most crowd-pleasing fare I've ever concocted is a mussel soup with lots of cream, saffron, carrots and other distinctive components which shall go unnamed here.

What is the best give you ever gave? The best gift I ever gave... was a surprise Christmas present to my husband and kids. Here's how it worked: I happened to have a friend who is a private pilot and who has a small jet airplane. For a fee, he agreed to take the four of us on a day trip to Taos, NM. I kept the whole thing a secret until the day of the trip. It must have been the 16th or 17th of December. I had forewarned folks at the agency and at school for the kids. That morning as we were all having breakfast and getting ready to bolt out the door to our usual posts, I announced that today would be special and that we weren't going to school or work, as per usual. That took a while to sink in, but they were willing participants in my scheme. I let them know that they were off the hook and that this day was my Christmas present to them. We headed out in the car to Centennial airport, at which point they were starting to get some pretty clear ideas of what was happening. I let them guess where we were going until they got it right and we headed out on the most crystal, clear, blue sky to Taos where we spent the day walking, talking, visiting galleries, eating great food and enjoying being together. The flight home offered a stunning sunset over the mountains along with oohs and ahhs and many excited thanks for the stolen moment and unexpected gift. It was probably most fun for me -- to set up the surprise and see their faces light up along the way.