The best ski resort in the USA is Alta, Utah because of the light powdery snow but it is closed to snowboarding. So I had to board it at midnight in the moonlight and was filmed doing it. See the film "The Legend of the Midnight Rider." (go to: Revere Copper Midnight Ride You Tube). The adrenaline rush riding down Baldy Mountain alone after the filming was awesome. A professor at the University of Utah used the film as an example in a Creative Writing class. A student in that class from Chicago said he had seen it in high school. Rode my Harley on back roads across North America and camped out at the infamous Buffalo Chip campground during Sturgis week. Took a lot of pictures and brought some of them home. That fun trip began with a lobster feast at a friend’s home on the beach in Moody Beach, Maine and finished visiting Dale Chihuly’s amazing boathouse art studio/home under a thruway bridge in Seattle. Rented a Harley in Buenos Aires, Argentina and rode across South America on back roads except took the main highway over the Andes to Valpariso, Chile then circled back to Santiago as there was a meeting I had to get to somehow... On that trip, sipped a Melbec at a Mendoza vineyard with lunch prepared by the best chef in Argentina who is married to the owner. Enjoyed playing golf with Paul Revere (rip 2019) at Hyannis Port Country Club where the Kennedy’s were also members and once shot a 39/41 on the Old Course at St. Andrews.

Was the best pitcher in the state of Nevada my senior year at White Pine County HS as I mowed down batters from Bishop Gorman & Rancho in Las Vegas and batted cleanup. One evening after a game was walking with teammates on Fremont Street in Vegas when a group of local kids stopped us and asked for my autograph. I said, “Why?” They replied, “Someday, you will be a famous major league player and we’ll have your autograph from high school!” My goal at ND was to walk on and become Captain of the baseball team. That freshman Fall semester, practiced with a catcher from Chicago. Someone set up a game with a South Bend HS. I was the starting pitcher and struck out all 12 batters I faced in the first four innings before a blood blister that just formed from the friction of the ball on a finger tip broke and I had to be relieved. Unfortunately, my GPA that first semester did not allow me to play any baseball the second semester. I had enrolled in Aeronautical Engineering because I planned to become the next Werner von Braun and run the US space program—NASA. Then discovered that I did not like engineering at all.

Casual: Holes in my Uggs are covered with duct tape...
Formal: Always wear my 50 year old black Tony Lama lizard skin cowboy boots with my 50 year old tuxedo. Black bow tie is never a clip on.

Here's recipe for best margarita you've ever had. Called Mike's Margarita after my son who settled on this recipe after years of research. Six ingredients, equal parts. Cuervo Gold Tequila (yeah, there's better but it works), Cointreau, Grand Marnier, Rose's Sweetened Lime Juice, Finest Call Sweet & Sour Mix (not their margarita mix), apple juice. Don't drink more than one and drive.

Americans and their elected representatives are fighting a battle between socialism and capitalism but neither side realizes that they are both being overwhelmed by a modern form of merchantilism. Have spoken all over the USA on the follies of US trade policy and trade agreements which benefit Wall Street rather than Main Street. Testified before five Congressional Committees on international trade and once before a Senate Committee on energy policy. Past Chairman and currently Treasurer of the Coalition for a Prosperous America (CPA). CPA was founded in 2007 as a nonpartisan coalition of domestic manufacturers and organized labor as well as family farmers and ranchers focused on changing US trade practices to benefit domestic production of anything mined, manufactured, grown or serviced. There is no other organization like it. Today we lead policy discussions in both Congress and the Executive branches of government on trade issues to benefit the USA. (go to: Prosperousamerica.org). CPA has been sanctioned by China for its role in supporting production in the USA rather than China. As an officer of CPA that sanction includes me. Other organizations like NAM & the Business Council who have consistently supported China’s positions on international trade issues have of course had no such sanctions placed on them. Assisted Peter Navarro (before he became Assistant to the President and Director of Trade and Manufacturing Policy) with his documentary film of his book "Death by China." Took the film crew to sites of shut down factories. Half of the people in the film are friends including two who worked at my company. Please watch that film. The book was coauthored with Greg Autry, a professor then at USC who nominated me for an honorary degree from USC.

My numerous speeches around the country for 20+ years have been educating people about the history and impact of our international trade policies. Following WWII, the US wanted to rebuild the economies of Western Europe and Japan to keep them out of the communist bloc. So our trade policies were driven by geopolitical concerns as they enabled those countries to rebuild manufacturing and grow the middle class. There was little concern about foreign competition then given their industry was destroyed during the war. Everything changed during the 1960’s and 1970’s as the free trade policies of the US met growing protectionist policies around the globe. The US manufacturing companies had distribution channels for their products in the US and began outsourcing production and building facilities in foreign countries to take advantage of their protectionist trade policies. This outsourcing destroyed US middle class jobs leading to increased divorce, depression, drugs and crime. This outsourcing of supply chains also weakened our national security while strengthening the economies of our adversaries allowing them to build their military as they seek to destroy democracy and its freedoms we take for granted. I had believed in free trade and believed it would lead to world peace but the reality is that this period of free trade has had the opposite effect!

The spectacular growth of the US economy up to WWII was due to US trade policies which not only protected domestic industry but allowed the USA to build a powerful national defense. We did not practice free trade until just before WWII. Indeed, no major economy in the history of the world became a major economy using free trade. I’m all for free market competition by producers within our country but not in trade with other countries which all have tax systems, tariffs, currency manipulation and other subsidies to benefit their domestic production and grow their middle class at the expense of our middle class. On March 6, 2025, provided introductory remarks before a CPA gathering in Florida which included some 50 Capitol Hill staffers from both parties. Felt quite honored when a subsequent speaker whom I hadn’t yet met said that he could listen to O’Shaughnessy (that’s me) all day long. Bill Bullard, the CEO of R-CALF USA then invited me to speak at their annual convention of ranchers in Deadwood, South Dakota in June. I asked Bill what aspect of trade would he like me to present and he said, “Just repeat exactly what you said here.” Later on he asked me to expand my remarks to a 45 minute presentation which I named, “The Truth About Tariffs.”

Catholic. Recently had a ten minute PDT light treatment for precancerous sores on my scalp. This time the pain was excruciating as my whole body shook. I said the rosary and offered my suffering as a prayer for that Ukrainian I somehow knew was then being tortured on Russian occupied territory. Amazingly, the ten minute procedure seemed to end after five. I even had to ask the nurse if that was the full ten minutes—indeed it was.

Anything Meat Loaf. Greatest song in rock and roll history is "Paradise By The Dashboard Lights". Meat played second base on my softball team in Westport, CT in '86 &'87 while I played first. Summer of '87, he cancelled a tour of Eastern Europe because they were not going to allow him to repatriate the concert receipts. I had been fired for the third time in my career so both of us were out of work. Looked for jobs everyday but also played golf together about 20 times that summer. Meat used to talk of getting back with Jim Steinem who wrote the Bat Out of Hell music and I talked of doing a leveraged buyout of a company and running it the right way with respect for the people working there. Meat was having trouble making his rental payments and I was thinking of selling my home to get its equity to feed my family. Anyone there would think we were crazed talking about such dreams. A few months later Meat got back with Jim and did "I'll Do Anything For Love But I Won't Do That" and I did a leveraged buy out (financed by the MM crowd just before he went to prison) of a manufacturing company founded by Paul Revere in 1801. (moral: never give up on your dreams) Today I enjoy anything by Chris Stapleton and a young Joni Mitchell .

Lou Holtz once mused that to win a national championship you have to be lucky because there would always be games that came down to the luck of how the ball bounced. Standing in the empty South Carolina stadium with an outstanding halfback recruit who had a troubled background, Lou said, "Son, you have a choice to make in life. You can fill this place up or you can sweep it out."

Grew up in White Pine County, Nevada with cowboys, whores, gamblers and miners. Instigated the panty raids on St. Mary's in Spring and Fall of '62 and acquired significant leadership skills important to my future career growth! Forced to seek housing off campus in Fall of '62 (grades) but then required by Father Collins (he was like a Dean of Discipline) to move back on campus (so he could keep an eye on me) with extension of disciplinary probation. Father Collins could have kicked me out of ND then but bought my argument that I stood up like a good ND man and refused to be blackmailed! (That's another story...) Roomed with Tom Longo (Honorable Mention db All American then NYG), in Zahm that semester and rescued him from being kicked out of school himself (again another story). After summer school in '63 was kicked out for a year (what I call a one year sabbatical) by Father Collins in collaboration with the Dean of Engineering who decided that I needed to mature. Went to Lassen Jr. College in northern California for a semester and caused the basketball program to be cancelled when I invited the other four of the starting five to a ND Stanford football game causing us to miss that Saturday's preseason practice. The coach quit in disgust. Then transferred to the University of Nevada in Reno. Elected President of Lincoln Hall at UNR without realizing that meant room and board payment would be refunded. On receiving this unexpected "gift" bet it all on a ND Cal game that ND won by 50 points (the spread favored ND by 13) in '65. Attended that game and visited Tom and other friends in locker room after game who all wanted the phone number of my girlfriend at ND. Received offer of reinstatement from ND but turned it down as I met wife of 50 years while at U of Nevada.

Went to grad school at USC seeking an MBA in International Business. Appointed resident adviser in Trojan Hall after applying one day after arrival on campus in spite of numerous other candidates. Shot pool with OJ--beat him and lived to talk about it! Married in June of '67 and moved into nearby apartment off campus. Left school at the end of that summer as my father died and had to take care of my mother. OJ moved into my apt with his wife Marguerite. Have had an equally incredible but very successful life, wife, children, grandchildren and received international awards. Wife passed away in '17 after almost 30 years of suffering lupus effects. Then remarried briefly but it just did not work. Then dated gal who was a college level athlete and is an expert skier, golfer and loves to ride on the back of my Harley. We both work out at CrossFit three times a week plus yoga and two-hour deep tissue massage weekly. This regiment is important given she is 30 years younger and very cuddly! Recently finished a round of golf and settled in at the bar of my country club. Four forty something year old guys walked in who were not members but had played as part of an exchange with another country club. I got up and greeted them and one told me he lived near and played Pinehurst #2 and declared my club was the best Donald Ross course he had ever played. As we were talking, I noticed one of them walked over to the end of the bar and sat down next to my girlfriend. I can imagine his attraction—think El Chapo’s actress/girlfriend! Then I noticed him abruptly leaving his seat and walking outside to sit on the patio overlooking beautiful Lake Delta. She told me later that he asked, “Is the guy you are with your father?” She replied with her stunning smile, “No, he is the love of my life!” Whereupon he bolted. We visited ND for the losing Cincinnati game and spent two nights on campus in Rudy’s room across the lake—Rudy never had it so good!!

We decided to buy wedding rings after dating three years as we planned to marry. Before we arrived at the jewelry store, I asked her to leave me alone with the manager when I negotiated the price which she did after selecting an exquisite double banded one carat engagement ring. Then I selected a two carat diamond which required a larger ring with the same styling. We had several trips planned so she could never be certain when the proposal would occur. One trip was to the Fairmont on Lake Louise which many regard as the most beautiful place in North America. We arrived just before dinner and went straight to our lake view table as our bags were delivered to our room. Following that just so right dinner, we went to our room which had been upgraded for free to a top floor overlooking the lake. There were rose petals lining the floor toward the bed which had a large rose petal heart outlined on it and 22 candles placed around the room. But the spectacular view through the big windows on the far wall captivated her attention as she quickly moved to take in the most magnificent view on this continent. When she turned to share it with me, I was on one knee with her diamond ring sporting that two carat stone. Overwhelmed, she gasped, “Yes.” My parish priest told me that certain factors during my short-lived previous marriage qualified for an annulment so our marriage date will be set following that determination.

The parish priest who initially was supposed to submit my application for annulment was reassigned to another parish and shortly thereafter was again reassigned to yet another parish. I really can’t explain what happened as he was confused whether the form had been submitted or not! Indeed, my application was somehow misplaced over two years and was never actually submitted. So on May 1, 2023 with the kindly and efficient assistance of my new parish priest, my new application for an annulment was submitted. That application was granted May 30, 2024. The August wedding and reception were the stuff of legends. The wedding itself was held at a beautiful but small chapel in Otter Lake, New York. The reception was at my ranch normally a half hour away on the other side of a somewhat idyllic town of Boonville which was hosting the Woodsmen’s Field Days which included such contests as ax throwing, log rolling and chain saw timbering. This annual event has a parade lasting an hour which prohibited any traffic passing through town. That hour exactly coincided with the timing of travel from our wedding to our reception. Fortunately, I had found a circuitous route to bypass Boonville that included using a seasonal dirt road through a forest to travel from the church to my ranch. Since directional services like GPS don’t work in these backwoods, a long procession of cars and trucks (somewhat resembling a funeral procession) left the church and snaked their way along the narrow dirt road which was fine until a large pickup truck was encountered going in the opposite direction causing one of our cars to slide off the road with the right rear wheel in a muddy ditch. The humongous driver of the truck wearing a dirty widow-maker shirt got out and I asked him if he had a chain in his truck to pull my son’s car out of the ditch. He said he did but wouldn’t need it as he was a redneck and would just lift that wheel up if a few of us would push as my son drove the car forward. It worked just as described. The wedding/reception had a theme to dress southwestern so the participants were attired from bolos to boots with western shirts and jeans. (The best man and I also wore navy blazers.) That dress set the tone for a lively reception which began with a champagne toast to a couple who filled each other with so much happiness as all could see. This was followed by my well known, individually prepared, popular nachos with ribs & chicken catered from the Dinosaur BBQ along with the best margaritas anyone ever tasted. People traveled from far and wide including Canada, California, Florida and Massachusetts. Several guests declared it was the best wedding reception they ever attended. Given their condition, I just hope they remember it! Many others requested that the reception should be repeated on every anniversary.

Several years ago, I bought that ranch near the Adirondacks with a pretty view then of Black Angus (now Wagyu) beef grazing on some land with two barns (I later sold to neighbors) beneath my timber cabin with a cathedral ceiling that makes me think every morning when I get up that I live on a movie set. Had a barn party with two bands attended by 110 of my closest friends. Also have a cabin (it sleeps 12) in Incline Village (Lake Tahoe) and let friends use for free. Four couples honeymooned there and many others have vacationed including a group of nine Mennonite women whose leader took great care of my first wife while incapacitated. We now spend a month in the winter there skiing plus a month in the summer. During March and April, we stay at the Spur Cross Inn located in the wild ass, little town of Cave Creek, AZ while enjoying Cactus League baseball games, a rodeo, an art festival, a motorcycle bike week, golfing, hiking and eating at restaurants such as Big Earl’s Greasy Eats. Otherwise, we are back at the ranch although we do travel from there occasionally to NYC, DC and Florida.

There have been ups and downs but feel like I'm the luckiest guy in the world....ie had field passes to USC at ND game. LL Cool J and (met) Spike Lee were on the USC sideline and Regis on the ND side but spent most of my time there on the sidelines before the game talking with Ruth Riley--told her I played center on my high school team. Said I watched her play many games on TV and because I had played center just watched her every move and she made me a fan of watching women's basketball. Should I admit being introduced on the sidelines to JnJ? I will deny talking to recruits (because that is not allowed for someone like me to do so under NCAA regs) on the ND sideline comparing USC unfavorably to ND as I attended both...

Biggest regret in life: Tore up a bench warrant for my arrest signed by then Governor Ronald Reagan. How was I to know he was going to become somebody? Man I would love to have that framed on the wall of my home office.

Was interviewed by New York Times for this article:
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/01/business/economy/biden-currency-trade.html