Hey Bill

What’s your most memorable moment?

Besides marrying Grace and us having Billy and Nan Ellen – seeing Earth from space

What’s your favorite place in Florida?

The whole state, from Pensacola to Key West - and everything in between.

What’s your all-time favorite movie?

Shane - a good-versus-evil classic

Favorite book?

The Bible ( Check out Matthew 7:12 )

Who’s your favorite entertainer?

Frank Sinatra. Summer Wind, Strangers in the Night, I Did It My Way …

What kind of music do you listen to the most?

Show tunes, songs from West Side Story, The Sound of Music, My Fair Lady, Music Man, etc.

What’s your favorite Beatles’ song?

“I Want to Hold Your Hand” – their first big number-one in America

Do you have an iPad – and, if so, what’s your favorite app?

I’m a news junkie, so I’d say apps like NBC Nightly News or New York Times

Who do you count as your mentors?

My parents

What was your very first job?

Cattle ranch. I paid my way through college by selling my beef cattle herd.

Tell us something about you that most people wouldn’t know.

I did 12 medical experiments in space.

If you could have dinner with three people - living or dead - who would they be?

Three guys who happen to be on Mount Rushmore together: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln

What is your favorite snack?

Arachis hypogaea ( Peanuts )

If you could have a different career other than what you’re doing now what would it be?

Full-time astronaut

What is your proudest legislative accomplishment?

Keeping oil rigs away from Florida’s beaches and environmental treasures, and out of the U.S. military testing ranges in the Gulf of Mexico