Michael Thornton, 65, is a Columbia, Missouri native but traveled extensively after he joined the army at 20. He was a ham radio, morse code, and radio teletype operator while in the army and was stationed in Seoul, South Korea from 1970-1972, a place he called “a best kept secret.” His favorite place though is the South which he appreciates for its realness. Here, he said, you are often left wondering what people think, but in the South you can be “walking down the street and get a look [that says] ‘Fuck you, I’m not scared of you’” and then both parties keep on their way.