Mr. Stephens grew up in northeastern Alabama, the son of a small business owner and all that implies. After graduating high school in the time of economic globalization and realizing the impact upon his hometown, he transitioned his pursuit of music and the arts towards the study of engineering. His studies at Auburn University have since led him to work on many memorable projects from explosion resistant water heaters to the space shuttle. Exceeding the geek’s goals of working at a National Laboratory, he also became the VP of Engineering at a high-efficiency appliance manufacturer before he turned forty. In so doing, he has worked in Alabama, Massachusetts, Washington, and Indiana.
His lifelong personal pursuit has been his wife of over thirty years, Misha. They first met when he was eight and she was seven. Despite the stereotypical expectations, they didn’t marry until Misha was twenty. With their three grown children living happy successful lives of their own, Misha and Phillip are empty nesters, which anyone can tell you is better than being honeymooners.
During the pandemic, Mr. Stephens returned to the artistic pursuits he enjoyed in his youth; pencil and charcoal drawings and then horrifying local music stores as he undertook singing lessons. Along the way, he picked up the guitar, tried his hand at home brewing, briefly contemplating releasing his own brand of beer, “Dègoûtant Mofette”. But the endeavor most enjoyable to him has been writing.
