The Nerd and the Artist

BY JOAN THARP

Now 19 and in college, Mike still keeps in touch with his longtime mentor, Marty Guericke. Photos by L.A. Cicero

SUMMER 2005 -- They were a sight to behold from the get go. Lanky computer programmer Marty Guericke towered over his Little Brother, 10-year-old Mike. "He was the tallest, skinniest guy I'd ever seen," recalls Mike, now 19. "And he had that total nerd look: the white socks that come up all the way to the knees, the pants that don't quite come all the way down to the shoes, the all-white tennis shoes that kind of squeak when you walk. I almost expected the pen protector in the pocket."

Of course, Mike wasn't exactly a fashionisto himself back then. A skinny and shy kid, he wore baggy khakis, print shirts, and an oversized jacket, "one of those weird giant ones that your mom buys in a thrift store," Mike says.

But Marty and Mike knew how to have fun. There were miniature golf outings and camping trips, go-carting, movies, and times just hanging out together at Marty's place, playing with Marty's geeky electronic toys. And, suddenly, the kid who could never get his father's attention, who got into dancing and acting and singing, in part, to impress his dad, had this steady and loving male presence in his life. Someone who showed up every week like he said he would. Who wanted to know what Mike thought and what he liked. Who wanted to hear him sing opera. Who told Mike to keep moving, keep pushing, even after his grades slipped, even after two knee surgeries sidelined him from track, even after Mike's sister (and best friend), Alex, died of leukemia the summer of his sophomore year in high school.

The kid who used to eat his lunch in the farthest corner of the playground, and who always wore a hat pulled down so low on his forehead that you couldn't see his eyes, came out of hiding in high school. He became a star runner, and was selected to be on the WB20-TV Student Council (a group of teens chosen every year to advise the station on youth issues and create PSAs aimed at teens).

Today, Mike juggles college and four part-time jobs. He's learning Japanese, and is saving money to go to Japan this summer, all to further his interests in becoming either a linguist or a 3-D animation cartoonist.

"I am who I am today because of Marty," Mike declares. "Without him, I'd probably be a high-school dropout living at home with my mom, who'd be yelling at me all the time. I couldn't be happier with my life as it is right now."