Bruce Tucker nomad jewelry philanthropist

Jeweler travels yearround, catches the Tucson Gem Show, found his Valentine by accident

Wildcat: So my name's Nathan.

Tucker: Bruce.

Wildcat: And you're on the spot. So you make your own jewelry and you sell them on campuses or what?

Tucker: Yeah. Right now I'm making a belly belt for some really cute girl that stopped a minute ago. It's not a bad lifestyle. I try to catch the gem show here in Tucson every year. I've made some friends here and keep getting drawn back to Tucson. The people here are really chill.

Wildcat: And girls keep asking you to do belly belts.

Tucker: Yeah. Jewelry's great.

Wildcat: What's a belly belt? It goes around their waist and through a ring in their belly or what?

Tucker: Oh no. It goes around their waist. Yeah, it hangs low.

Wildcat: It hangs low?

Tucker: On their hips.

Wildcat: Oh. OK. That's cool. I don't think I've ever seen a girl with a belly belt.

Tucker: You will here. She's going to pick it up Friday at 10 o'clock.

Wildcat: What's your best story about being nomadic?

Tucker: I had some fun with some hippies when I first went on the road and left home. I'd never seen the country, and I hopped on a bus. It was great. The cops would pull us over every other town.

Wildcat: Was there smoke coming out of the windows?

Tucker: Pretty much. Yeah, it was a different time in my life. My traveling partner I met here on Valentine's a year ago.

Wildcat: Tucson is the place for love.

Tucker: Yeah. It was a freak accident - we met. Some old friends kidnapped me, then I ran into her ...

Wildcat: And made her a bead necklace and won her heart?

Tucker: Actually, we've been doing this together, traveling around the country. She's from Vermont.

Wildcat: Vermont love. Cool.

Tucker: Yeah.