One of Us: Pat Croce

What, you don’t know how to make a compass? Pat Croce will teach you that and more (Defend against a dagger? Check. Build a log raft? Check) via his just-released how-to tome The Pirate Handbook: A Rogue’s Guide to Pillage, Plunder, Chaos and Conquest. Here, some other (mostly landlubbery) things Philly’s best-known pirate freak and museum-founding, fitness-training, motivational-speaking entrepreneurial renaissance man wanted to dish on.

My full name is … Pasquale W. Croce Jr., “Pat.”
I am a … volatile mix of Gaelic and Garlic (Irish and Italian).
I’ve lived in Philadelphia … or its suburbs for my entire life.
The thing that I like most about myself is … my high energy level.
One thing I would change about myself is … my impatience.
One part of my fitness routine that I dread (but do anyway) is … start!
I can look past all the raping/pillaging part of pirates because … nobody’s perfect.
If I’m only having one cocktail, it’s going to be … a vodka gimlet (easy on the gim).
My greatest extravagance is … my wife’s retail therapy.
When I watch the Sixers, I … have great memories.
The best moment/hour/day of my life thus far … 5/23/79. Holding my daughter Kelly for the first time.
If I owned a racehorse, I’d name it … No Regrets!
The best pirate movie ever is … Captain Blood.
The best advice I ever got is … If you don’t ask, the answer is always no.
My fictional hero is … Maximus the Gladiator.
My real-life hero is … Sir Francis Drake.
The most important thing I ever did was … marry my high-school sweetheart, Diane.
My children … gave me grandkids! My own pirate crew.
The best place to eat in Philly is … Osteria.
If I could change places with one person for a day, it’d be … Prince William.
The last time I was mistaken for another famous person, it was … Jim Croce.
My greatest fear … is not being prepared.
The best thing I own is … a close family. (Material-wise, though, it’s the only pirate treasure chest in the world!)
The best book I ever read is … The Godfather.
The best thing on TV is … Sons of Anarchy.
One thing this city doesn’t have that it really needs is … a walkable waterfront.
One thing I’m just so sick of … is arrogant people who think their feces don’t stink.