Bill Gillespie, âthe Gentleman of the Coastside,â was born in Baltimore to William Francis and Frances Marie Gillespie. From the age of 7, he, his two siblings and three cousins were raised by their fraternal grandparents as both sets of their parents were in tuberculosis wards, isolated from their children, and everyone else. Bill joined the Air Force and was stationed in Germany as a control tower operator. He married Cindi in 1970 and they traveled extensively before settling in San Francisco. Bill told great stories and inspired imagination through describing his experiences. He was in his 30s when they traveled around the world. Starting out, they found work at Denali National Park, then continued their journey to the East Coast and on to Europe. When they disembarked from the plane in England, a couple sold them their Volkswagen bus after completing their own tour. Bill and Cindi traveled Europe and followed the Silk Road through Turkey, Iran and Nepal, seeing parts of the world that may never be experienced by Americans again. In India, Bill charmed the ambassador, who wined and dined them. Late season in Nepal, they climbed the Himalayas above 18,000 feet. Bill made friends everywhere he went. His remarkable descriptions about those adventures always came back around to the people they met, to the resilience of their encounters, and to that excursion with Cindi.