Vince D’Adamo: What did you enjoy most about competing in athletics throughout your life?
Mike Gunn: The camaraderie that is developed with my teammates. There anything better than accomplishing a goal with a group of your friends.
D’Adamo: What have you been doing since graduating from high school?
Gunn: Raising my family with my wife of almost 20 years Jule’ (Bosson) Gunn. We have lived in Napa, Tahoe and Seattle. My son Nick is 18, Emily is 15, and Brooke is 11. They keep us quite busy with baseball and cheer. I have worked at Zillow.com for the last 6 years in Seattle and it has been the best career move I have made. One of our core values at Zillow is a team sport, which is fitting.
D’Adamo: What was your favorite class at Justin-Siena High?
Gunn: Wow, there are a couple. Bob Morrish and Alex Urban’s English classes resonate but it was my time with Dan Clark and Greg Schmitz that help mold me as a person. I am forever grateful for their presence in my life.
D’Adamo: What was your favorite athletic moment at Justin-Siena High?
Gunn: Vine Bowl 1988. We had a difficult season that year. Three days before the football season started Dave Shipp left Justin-Siena and we were left trying to keep it together. We were faced with a multitude of key injuries that season and we battled as a group and finally broke through with a win over St. Helena.
D’Adamo: How much do you feel you have grown personally since graduating from high school and how much of that do you trace to athletics?
Gunn: Well, I’m 43 now and high school was a lifetime ago. Watching my son graduate this year put a lot in perspective. It brought back many of those memories of where we were, where we were going, and where we ended up. The work ethic that I obtained from playing and coaching has translated to everything I do.
D’Adamo: Within your family, who have been the most influential people?
Gunn: Without question, my parents. They are always there to support me. My father has been coaching for 45 years or so, and continues to coach a select baseball team in Seattle. My mother has not missed a game for myself or my children all these years and that support has helped me be the person and the parent I am today.
D’Adamo: Name a historical figure, dead or alive, in or out of sports you would most like to meet.
Gunn: Where do I go with this? Socrates, Washington, Lincoln, Hemmingway, Patton. Geez, so many but I will stick with sports and even with that, Wooden, Lombardi, Robinson, Campanella, Mays. Being the Niner fan that I am I will go with Bill Walsh. I have always appreciated the fact that he changed the whole thought process of the game of football. A sport we all thought we knew. He truly was a an innovator and thought outside the box.
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