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At some point in our conversation Kevin Fitzgerald lamented the fact that he could cure cancer and the only thing anyone would want to talk to him about was his time working security for The Rolling Stones. I was no exception to the rule. Ten, fifteen minutes into this episode we’re right back into it, Kev telling me stories about his days cracking heads for the Stones and me giggling like a schoolgirl high on Keith Richards. To my credit, though, I’m interested in far more than just Kevin’s days behind the scenes at concerts. Because Kevin has lived, and continues to live, a fascinating life. And while a healthy amount of friends and well-wishers no doubt tire his ears asking about those bouncing days, truth is you could ask him about any number of the amazing things he’s done in his life, and you’d be more than pleased with whatever story he responded with.

He’s like Forrest Gump, except far funnier. And not mentally disabled.

Perhaps best-known for his days on the Animal Planet reality TV series “Emergency Vets,” which chronicled the drama at Alameda East Veterinary Hospital, where my family has taken our pets for years, Kevin has channeled his celebrity towards numerous conservation causes, globe-trotting the planet to protect endangered species and filming his exploits that he releases as shorts in conjunction with Animal Planet. He’s relentless with it. Upon sitting down at my dining room table he handed me a magazine of recent scientific articles he’s published – “your homework” he said – and the thing is chock full of his exploits: tagging rattlesnakes, conserving leopards in the far east, tracking polar bears in Manitoba, expounding on the dangers of longline fishing. And when he’s not busy saving the natural world – or at least giving it a go – he’s on stages across the country, alternately firing off cutesy animal one-liners and sucker-punching you with well crafted dick-jokes.

Long and short of it, Kevin is a treasure-trove of fantastic jokes, stories and information and it was a blast having him sit down and chat with me for a bit. The guy just enjoys life. He is interested and interesting; and those are the people we should try and surround ourselves with. Those are the people we should take a cue from. I hope you  enjoy listening to Kev and I chat as much as I enjoyed chatting. We never discussed what music videos he likes, but Kevin told me he once bounced for the Wu Tang Clan – yeah he’s that fucking cool – so I’m posting the video for “Triumph.”

Check out the episode on iTunes .