Get to know the Discovery Map team: Gary Torrisi

Gary is the map artist!

He's been an artist since the 80s.

"I grew up in Lawrence, MA which was a large mill town 30 miles north of Boston. I went to a high school nearby that had a great graphics and illustration department so by the time I went to art school in Boston I was far ahead of my peers. My love was illustration and that is what I majored in at college.

I met my wife in art college who happened to also grow up in Lawrence,Ma. After art school I got a job as Art Director at a small advertising agency in Boston. I stayed there 3 years until I went out on my own and became a self employed illustrator and ran my own studio.

My wife and I were married after art school and lived north of Boston not far from were we grew up.We have two grown children and two grandchildren.

This was in the 1980’s and I had an easy time making a good living as an illustrator getting projects from the Boston and New York City area.

I have had a 40 year career being lucky enough to work on projects for Disney, Warner Bros, Parker Bros Games, the high tech companies such as IBM, Raytheon, advertising agencies all across the country, puzzle companies, publishing companies illustrating children’s books and educational books for school systems. Because I was an airbrush artist I even started painting goalie helmets for college level hockey and even the NHL. And along the way I started drawing maps for a small company called Resort Maps (now Discovery Map) that I started doing business with about 12-14 years ago.

Again luck was on my side to be able to work full time for Discovery Map these last 3 years."

He's also been to some pretty cool places! Here are Gary's top 3 favorite spots from his travels:

My family has always loved the outdoors. Along with being a hockey family and being at every ice rink in New England, we were avid skiers and loved to be hiking and biking the White Mountains of NH.

1. Arizona

My wife and I just returned from Arizona which was a great trip. Sedona was amazing! We visited the Painted Desert and the Petrified Forest. This was our first time seeing the Grand Canyon so what can I say! Fantastic doesn’t explain the views. It was great seeing all the people from other countries visiting our natural wonders in amazement.

We finished the trip driving to Utah to see Monument Valley. I had always watched old western movies and saw the backgrounds that were filmed at Monument Valley, but being there was surreal.

2. San Francisco Area

"When my brother and his wife lived in San Jose, CA we went out there to explore the area for 10 days. San Francisco was a great place to visit but what we really enjoyed was the great outdoors and seeing the redwoods at Muir Woods and stopping along 17 Mile Drive. The coastline there is like no other. As a golfer, finally seeing Pebble Beach in person was a trip."

3. Key West, FL

"My wife had always wanted to go to the keys. I wasn’t sure what to expect as it is seemingly a narrow road connecting hundreds of islands. It was great! Especially if you like history. We stayed at a beautiful resort near Duval Street. The night life and great music is everywhere in that area. Ernest Hemingway’s House and Museum is a must with all the six-toed cats running around everywhere! And the sunsets at Mallory Square have to be seen to be believed.

My wife and I have not traveled as much as we have liked being self employed and raising a family. We have done some traveling to Las Vegas, Virginia, even cruised to the Bahamas and snorkeled in the Caribbean, but always seem to be drawn home to the mountains of New Hampshire. We feel so lucky to live where 30 minutes east is the ocean, 45 minutes north are the lakes and mountains and 30 minutes south is Boston.

Our goal now for traveling is to see as many national parks as we can."

Gary's Discovery Destination Wish List

"Discovery Map has so many incredible destinations, but my wife and I both would love to visit Nashville,TN. Hopefully we will go there in the near future. The music is really what is drawing us there and it is definitely the music capital."