Yesterday, Wired spoke with Chris Giovinazzo, a dear friend of Evan’s. He had lots to say about his old debate partner, and a few clues to drop too.
Wired: When did you meet Evan?
Giovinazzo: I knew him starting in 7th grade since went to the same middle school. But we really became friends at a debate summer camp before the 9th grade. No friend of his has known him as well or as long as I have.
__ W: __Tell me about his debating skills?
__ G: __He was a very good debater. We did that all through high school. It took all of our time and labeled us as total dorks. But it was also its own social community, and we did pretty well.
__ W: __What kinds of topics did he excel in?
__ G: __We didn’t have a lot of choice in topics. They’d just give them to you. It’s a weird activity that involves talking fast and getting in as much information as possible. But he is very articulate and very persuasive and he could cut to the chase. He could have gotten a full scholarship to many colleges to do that
__ W: __So why did he choose Duke?
__ G: __I don’t think that he had a great reason. Maybe because his older brother went there. I wouldn’t say that he loved Duke. He applied early and he got in, and I think he just went with it.
__ W: __Why didn’t he have such a good time?
__ G: __I guess it’s kind of a fratty school and he didn’t join a fraternity. He had a full social life. But it was a different culture than he would have liked.
__ W: __Was he still something of a dork?
__ G: __No. He wasn’t even really dorky in high school. It’s just assumed that if you do a lot of debate, you’re dorky. It’s also true that he was probably a little late to dating, and he’s still a little reserved when you first meet him. But he has become less reserved. And he was a good student in high school, but wasn’t an academic all star.
__ W: __Tell me what he was like in high school:
__ G: __He was on the varsity soccer team, for one. He also played a lot of music---a bit of guitar and a bit of keyboards. You’ve got to understand, we missed at least 30 days of school and spent half of our weekends out of town traveling. We did it, grudgingly. I probably spent more weekends doing debate than anything else.
__ W: __What kind of music did he listen to?
__ G: __All that classic rock: Rush, Pink Floyd. Led Zeppelin. A lot of stuff that he probably still owns but doesn’t go into very often. He liked jazz even then. Now it’s more alternative music: Wilco kind of stuff. Death Cab for Cutie. He is much more musically in-the-know than I am. Being around Wired, he is exposed to stuff early.
__ W: __Did you stay in close touch when he was at Duke?
__ G: __That was probably the beginning of email, so we began to be in email touch. We visited each other a few times in college. And we spent the summers back in Atlanta. He studied abroad in Australia at the same time that I did, and at the same place. So we traveled all through Australia and New Zealand. Right before that, we took a cross country road trip for about three weeks. I’m sure, in fact, that his trip now is similar in many ways.
__ W: __Fascinating. Tell me more about that trip.
__ G: __We started in Atlanta and went all the way to LA and stayed there a week. It was mostly in the south. We stopped in New Orleans and in Sedona. I remember that he brought the “monster manual” which is the D&D compendium of monsters. Just as a joke we would talk about what monsters we would likely see wherever we were. We talked about the Shambling Mound. It was something that he had an affection for. It was a marshy kind of thing. We spent a day driving around Louisiana and Mississippi looking for shambling mounds. We stayed at campgrounds and in El Paso. We did out west stuff. We went to New Mexico. In LA, we went to Disney Land.
__ W: __Where did you stay in LA:
__ G: __He stayed with a friend named Torrey who he knew from Duke.
__ W: __Do you think he’s recreating that trip now?
__ G: __I know he has a real affection for New Orleans. He loves that place. Even in high school, we spent a couple weekends there. We would listen to music and just hang out there.
__ W: __Is there any place he always wanted to go to but never did?
__ G: __He would often talk about ridiculous attraction. I think that there is a Weird Al Yankovic song about the biggest ball of twine in Minnesota that he claimed he wanted to see. I think that he had a real affection for Americana. The truth is that I bet he has been almost anywhere in this country.
__ W: __What does he like to wear?
__ G: __He is one of those people who dresses well without looking like he dresses well. Good fashion sense, but not yuppie. It’s t-shirts with style and jeans. Maybe this time of year, he would wear shorts and sandals. He has suits for the occasion. But it’s always the suits you would see in GQ, with narrow ties. Much more stylish than anyone else would wear.
__ W: __Is he going to socialize now that he’s on the run?
__ G: __He’s definitely not going to be holed up, but it depends a little bit on how close he thinks people are getting. He certainly wouldn’t just sit in a hotel all day. Even if he wanted to do work or write, he’s much more likely to go out to a coffee shop.
__ W: __Tell me about one of his typical days in a new city.
__ G: __He would do a lot of walking. He would want to see the town. Not in a touristy way. Would probably find the walkable parts of a city and check it out. He wouldn’t use a guidebook. He would just walk around himself. He might go to museums. But that’s not something that he loves. He’s more interested in stuff like live music. He also likes the beach for sure, and he definitely exercises. I can see him jogging or walking parks.
__ W: __Can you think of any code names he might use?
__ G: __I saw people looking at Thrimp Johnson. I thought for sure that was him. When we lived together in San Francisco, we got a lot of mail for people with strange names who used to live at that address. And we joked about that all the time. Thrimp was a name that just stuck around.
__ W: __Any others?
__ G: __“John Tennis” definitely stuck around. There are others.” S.L. Cantu” stuck around.
__ W: __Do you think he’s on motorcycle? Or in a car or a train?
__ G: __I have never seen Evan ride a motorcycle in his life and would be shocked if he liked that. But he might try some new things. I would never imagine him on a motorcycle. It’s too wannabe.
__ W: __So you think him getting his motorcycle license was misdirection?
__ G: __It’s possible. I do know he sold his car. And I think that he would be worried at this point about trains. There are a lot of people he could run across at this point who would recognize him.
__ W: __What do you think he looks like?
__ G: __I think he looks like he did in that Venice Beach video. That’s clearly him. 100 percent certainty. He couldn’t do anything to his appearance that would fool me for a second. He did have a beard at my recent wedding. But it still looked like Evan. And he wears contacts normally, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he wore glasses.
__ W: __A hunter wanted me to ask if he has any major life regrets?
__ G: __I’m sure that he does. But I don’t think that they would be relevant to this.
__ W: __Is there anything incongruous about him? Anything that doesn’t make sense?
__ G: __it’s hard to make a judgment like that about someone you’re so close to. His office mate said that’ he’s a procrastinator. But Evan is the most conscientious person I have ever met. He is not a complainer. He is very organized. To the extent that he procrastinates, it’s very deliberate. I know that from observing him as a freelance writer. I couldn’t do what he does. It’s so self directed. For him to get up at 8am and sit in his office at our house and just plug away without colleagues really there, and without clear definition of what to do is something that he is perfectly designed for.
__ W: __Some people have speculated that he’s going to go to Burning Man. Do you think that’s true?
__ G: __I don't know. I will say that he's never been to Burning Man as far as I know. I would think he'd prefer somewhere with internet access, although who knows maybe they have that at Burning Man these days.
__ W: __Do you think he’ll get a job?
__ G: __He never talked to me about that. I can’t tell you why, but I always thought he would --- or at least that he would want to.
__ W: __And what kind?
__ G: __As a server, would be my guess. Retail. Coffee shop? I don’t think he’s going to be doing carpentry or painting houses. But he would be willing.
__ W: __Did you know that your check would pop up in this hunt?
No. But we had conversations in advance. I knew I was going to come up in some way. I got a kick out of my wedding photos from two months ago popping up all over the place.
__ W: __What was he thinking about before the hunt started?
__ G: __He was concerned that the people near him would be bothered. I wasn’t concern about his safety as much as I was about his privacy. All I know that he did his homework on these things. As far as where he would go, he was cagey. But I don’t think he wanted me to know. And honestly, I don’t think he knew. I think he had sketches, but I don’t think he has an itinerary.
__ W: __How much had he planned in advance?
__ G: __I think he planned to sell his car. I think he had spots that he wants to go to. But when they happen and how he gets there is not determined.
__ W: __Do you know where he is?
__ G: __I won’t comment. The most immediate answer is no.
__ W: __Do you have any hints for us?
__ G: __[Pauses]. Area code starting with “2”
__ W: __So, Washington State, Washington DC, New York, Maine? That’s a lot.
__ G: __Ok. Area code starting with “21.”
__ W: __Do you think he’s going to get caught?
__ G: __Am I right that he keeps the money if he doesn’t get caught?
__ W: __Yes.
__ G: __If so, then no. I don’t think he wants to get caught. And I don’t think he’s going to.
