At a young age, Rob O’Keefe pursued his desire to see the world despite his fear of heights, open spaces, and waffles. His first job entailed working as a sherpa on the world’s smallest mountain, Mount Wycheproof in Australia, rising 138 feet above the surrounding terrain. There wasn’t much call for carrying climbing equipment or navigating treacherous terrain, but occasionally a hiker would call down from the top of the mountain for a glass of water or directions to a nearby hotel.

From there, Rob moved back to the wilds of New England and started a chipmunk farm, training his charges to be stunt doubles for major Hollywood productions. His greatest accomplishment was securing work for his prize student, Rocky, as a stand-in for Tom Cruise in the third Mission Impossible movie. That’s not Tom riding a motorcycle off of a cliff in Norway!

Today, Rob enjoys a life of leisure, growing his impressive stump collection which features a variety of hardwood trees, making pot holders from old quilts and quilts from old pot holders, and teaching Esperanto to farm animals.