John Hermanies is struggling with 13 pounds of rambunctious dachshund and fighting embarrassment as he tries to explain why he's giving money away:

        “When you're my age and have no children, you start thinking about what you want to do with your assets. It has been a wonderful life for me here and I want to return the favor. That's why I did the CSO thing.”

John Hermanies on the balcony of his Walnut Hills condo. (Ernest Coleman photo) | ZOOM |

        The CSO “thing” was endowing the principal trombone chair earlier this month, a gift the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra's Second Century Campaign lists at $750,000. Endowing a chair means the giver has naming rights — it's the Dorothy and John Hermanies Chair — of the position where the principal player sits. The money goes into the orchestra's endowment.

        He's not a great trombone fan. “I'm more into clarinet and trumpet, but they were taken,” he says.

        “One of the great regrets of my life is that we were always so busy we hardly ever got to the orchestra's concerts. We saw a lot of the Pops, but not the full orchestra.”

        Mr. Hermanies, retired attorney, age unknown and not telling, is dressed in a suit even though he's not going anywhere. he's of average height, extremely soft-spoken and all the time straining forward to hear you.

        Phrasing carefully, he's answering a question about his other gifts: “There's something similar going to the Art Museum, but I'd have to check my will to see what it is. My late wife, Dorothy, set that up. She was very active there.”

        John? Dorothy? The same couple named on the John and Dorothy Hermanies Press Box at the University of Cincinnati?

        “That's us,” he says. He is sitting in his Walnut Hills condo overlooking the river, still trying to settle the frenzied 4-year-old dachshund Teufel, still embarrassed to be talking about his philanthropy. “It's just a matter of believing that if you can give something back to the community, you should.

        “I spent 15 years on UC's board, then I was on the (UC) Foundation Board, plus I got my law degree there in '48.”

        He's still a trustee emeritus. “I'm just around, helping if needed,” he says. “I'm a firm believer that there comes a time when you have to get out of the way. Let the new blood take over.”

        His passion for UC extends beyond the boardroom: He never misses a UC football or basketball game, home oraway.

        “He's hit every one since I think sometime back in the '30s,” says Greg Hand of UC's public information office. Quite a feat for two reasons:

        • A chunk of his career was spent in Columbus, working for Republican governors and attorneys general, before he returned to Cincinnati and spent 14 years chairing the Republican Party and maintaining his law practice.

        • His and his late wife Dorothy's passion for travel. Right now, he's touring Japan, China and Tibet.

        “I wanted to see the world and made it a priority.” Indeed. He estimates he has been to about 100 countries. The reason he can't be sure of the exact number, he says, “is because someplace is a country one day and not the next. I was all over the U.S.S.R. when it was one country, now how many is it?

        Antarctica? Been there (“Treacherous, but so beautiful you don't feel the cold”).

        Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Cambodia? Been there, too.

        Thailand, Tanzania, Kenya, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Sumatra, Borneo, Israel, Central America, South Pacific? Done it.

        “But all of them, every time, always, arranged around UC games.”

        His favorite way to travel is on the fly. “Go, rent a car and start driving — no reservations.”

        Fine. Before he gets away again, let's fill in some blanks.

        The ultimate trip is ...

        There's no such thing. Just see everything you can and it's the ultimate trip while you're doing it.

        One trip I don't want to repeat ...

        There are some I wouldn't go back to but there's not one I wish I hadn't taken.

        The most memorable trip ...

        Was when we got caught in the original revolution in Afghanistan. We were in the northern part of the country and heard about it. Then we got back to the hotel and noticed the president's picture had been taken off the wall. No one was allowed to leave, so 15 of us chartered a plane and flew to a town near the Iran border, then hired taxis to slip us over.

        The first thing I do at home after a trip ...

        Is assemble slides that I never look at again. Then, I get the dog.

        Everyone should see ...

        The Taj Mahal. It's the single most beautiful man-made thing I've ever seen. I'll see it again.

        The friendliest country ...

        Most people are friendly everywhere, but I found Russians to be particularly friendly, even in the old days. Once in Moscow we asked a group of young men for directions to Red Square. Instead of telling us, they walked us to it.

        Another time, on the Caspian Sea in spring, a group of high school kids were there dancing and asked us to join them.

        What I miss most when traveling ...

        Not very much. I've never seen a need to hurry back, except when my parents were alive and I'd worry about them.

        I'll quit going to UC ball games when ...

        They can no longer carry me in.

        You forgot to ask ...

        I don't know. I don't think I'm that interesting. This is one of those questions, I'll think of the answer somewhere in Tibet. Is that too late?

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