Mention Peorian Blair Gambill, and hear him called disruptor or conciliator, a wheeler-dealer or civic-minded neighbor, a mover & shaker or a loose cannon.
The 69-year-old businessman is none of those, really. But – like Star-Lord in Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy,” he concedes he’s “a bit of both. I’m not afraid to step on toes. If you’re liked by everybody, you’re maybe not doing very much.”
Born in Cleveland and raised in suburban Chicago, he attended Maine West high school in Des Plaines, played football and graduated in 1975, then went to Kankakee Community College before transferring to SIU-Carbondale. There he took business administration courses and thought of law school, but ended up earning an MBA there.
Returning to Chicago, he did a little commercial acting and modeling (including a spot for Breck shampoo) before entering the insurance business, selling door-to-door to farmers before convincing colleagues there were mor farmer downstate than in Chicagoland. We drover to Champaign and other cities “but when we came to Peoria and I saw the Pere Marquette, I was sold. It’s a city.”
Here, he became involved with the opera, the Peoria County Republican Party, and the Central Illinois Landmarks Foundation, plus issues ranging from organizing against building a Walmart where Peoria Stadium is and, lately, the Detweiller marina.
For decades selling group health and life insurance (“I’ve always been independent”), he and his wife Molly have a blended family with five kids from 3 to 30 years old – and 26 cars, including a Rolls Royce, Mercedes,, Ferrari, Lincoln and Corvette. (“I have a sickness there,’ he says, laughing, “ – and with boats”).
Cantaloupe or watermelon?
It depends on the time of day. Cantaloupe in the morning; watermelon in the evening.
What’s your favorite movie?
“American Graffiti.” Parts remind me of driving around in my 1967 GTO,
including Hillary Rodham’s neighborhood years long before she married Bill
Clinton.
Bookstores or libraries?
Libraries. I went there a lot in college. They have everything; bookstores don’t. I enjoy history and old pictures.
Bugs Bunny or Mickey Mouse?
Bugs. He got into mischief, but he was never in any real trouble.
What’s something people might be surprised to know about you?
I ski. I’ve skied at Corbet’s at Jackson Hole, Big Sky in Montana, Vail and Beaver Creek and Aspen in Colorado. I’m a damned good skier.
