SEAN TINER

Ashley and I honored to have our handmade Crestview Candles featured in Brown Alumni Magazine’s annual holiday gift guide. 🌊 🕯  If you’re looking for a unique craft gift inspired by the coast, check them out here: https://amzn.to/3E08Ci0

(Chris Berman, Stylized Portrait by Tiner). From the dormitories of Brown University to anchoring ESPN, Chris Berman has one of the best seats to sports. In 1976, during Berman's senior year at Brown University , the football team won the Ivy League Championship. Ironically during my senior year at Brown, the football team also won the Ivies. To commemorate the event and surprise Berman, I had the team sign a football and sent it to him (with the special help of Tim Cotter, my freshman year roommate). The football genuinely surprised Berman and to return the favor he mailed me a football signed by the entire ESPN Sunday NFL Countdown crew, including, Michael Irving, Chris Mortensen, Steve Young and Tom Jackson. What makes this football extremely special to me is that he signed it in honor of my brother , similar to the football signed by Pete Carroll . Berman thank you for paying it forward and for providing the world with insightful and humorous commentary. I wish you and you...

( Sean Tiner & Ruth Simmons , Fall 2002, my first "official" day at Brown University , signed by President Simmons a few years latter). Thank you for encouraging the world to positively move forward and all of the written correspondences over the years. It really makes an impact in my life. Go Bruno!

(Tory Dunnan, Stylized Portrait by Tiner). Congrats my friend Tory Dunnan, a fellow Brown Alumnus , for all her professional accomplishments. Tory and I lived in Keeney Quad during our freshman year at Brown. I always enjoyed exchanging jokes with her as we frequently saw one another going to our respective athletic practices. From the soccer field to graduate school to news reporting for WAFF 48 News in Huntsville, Alabama, Tory is undeniably accomplishing significant milestones. I wish her the best of luck in her future endeavors, especially as she gives Katie Couric a run for her money. ;)

(Copy of the card given to me by one of the USC coaches). ...Yesterday, I was invited to try out for next year's USC basketball team (to join the practice squad). ...Only to discover that I do not have any more collegiate eligibility, because I used all of my four years while playing two years of water polo at Brown .

(Enjoying life in Caines, Australia (2003)). In 2003, I was invited to compete in the Arafura Games in Darwin, Australia for water polo . This was year of the SARS global scare and consequentially the games were canceled. However, Australia still held a national water polo tournament and I competed with the team representing USA. We finished third and afterwards enjoyed a few days in Caines, Australia. I find this picture humorous, because my hair is so long, which is quintessential of my high school days and freshman year at Brown University.

(Van Winkle Gates, Providence, RI (C) Tiner). It's exciting that winter is far behind us and in approximately a month, Ruth Simmons will open The Van Winkle Gates for Brown University's class of 2008. The Van Wikle Gates are only open twice a year: once during commencement and once during convocation. It is tradition to enter the gates on the first day of school during your freshman year and walk through them four years latter after graduation ceremonies. Congrats to all of this year's graduates, especially my close friends Jackie, Kate & Devon.

(Kalil, Stylized Portrait by Tiner). About two years ago, I had the unique opportunity to meet the USC football team after they defeated Stanford. I really enjoyed meeting all of the players and am very grateful for my close friend to arrange it. It was a really exciting era for USC, as the football team was pursuing the illustrious "Three-Pete" and two Heisman winners were playing at the same time. One of the players who I really enjoyed meeting was Ryan Kalil . His personality on and off the field is a true testament to his leadership and genuineness. It's really amazing to think what a difference two years can make. At the time I met the team, I was a senior at Brown and Kalil was still a USC undergraduate. Now, Kalil is playing in the NFL with the Carolina Panthers and ironically I'm a USC graduate student . I wish Kalil the best of luck in the NFL and with his future endeavors off the field. (Kalil & Tiner).

(Moving Forward Fundraiser Poster, wood block print, (C) Tiner). ( Shortly after finishing The Breakers Marathon in 2005, photo credit: Andrew Matheny) (26.2 Miles in 4:07, photo credit: Andrew Matheny ) (Event Press Coverage) (Shortly after finishing The Breakers Marathon with Brown University friends (2005), photo credit: Andrew Matheny) (Enjoying the event's success with Brown University Reverend Cooper-Nelson (2005)) (Event Press Coverage) As The Mark P. Tiner Education Foundation Scholarship Selection Committee is preparing to meet in the next couple of days, I thought it is an appropriate time to thank everyone for believing in me during the fall of my senior year at Brown. What started as an opportunity for friends and family to contribute to my brother's memorial fund ( by donating $1 for every mile that I ran ) has developed into a lasting entity that is helping out deserving students. It is rewarding to help our youth pursue higher education and continue my brothe...

( Brown University , Providence, RI (C) Tiner). After spending four years in New England for my undergraduate studies, I realized that I enjoy visiting the snow ....but not living in it. :)

(Sean (Tiner The Niner) Playing Water Polo @ Brown, photo credit: Mr. D'Avino) In 2003, I was honored with All-Ivy Academic Honors for Division I Men's Water Polo. ( I didn't play my Junior and Senior seasons due to a lingering shoulder injury, but am excited that it is now fully rehabilitated.) Today, I enjoy a range of new sports, including golf, swimming, tennis, running, surfing & basketball. :)

(Abstract Figure Oil Painting (C) Tiner. I really enjoyed this piece, because I constructed wood panels to the side of the canvas to break up the traditional confides of a rectangle canvas. Unfortunately, it was destroyed by a vandal. Dimensions: Aprox. 4 ft. x 6 ft.) At Brown, I did several abstract and surreal oil and acrylic paintings. It was an opportunity for me to explore different mediums and refine my artistic expression . ..and also escape the cold winters. ;) Now, I primarily focus on photography and new media, because I am able to capture more moments. I don't believe that painting should be a reflection of what the camera can capture, because it then turns into a measure of perfection and limits the overall range of artistic development. However I still occasionally draw and paint, as a way to convey what the camera cannot capture and to develop new ideas and concepts. A special thanks to Wendy Edwards and Leslie Bostrom for mentoring me in my artistic endeavor...

(Ruth Simmons (C) Tiner) Approximately 6 years ago, I remember being a nervous 18 year-old eagerly waiting to depart for Brown University and begin my undergraduate studies. Before I left, I watched a 60 Minutes program on Ruth Simmons, who recently started her tenure as president at Brown University. I remember its significance, because she was the first “black woman” Ivy League President. ( Sean Tiner & Ruth Simmons enjoying Brown Football win the 2006 Ivy League Championship) Over the next 4 years, as I developed a friendship with Ruth, I remember how the media no longer focused on her race or gender and concentrated on her accomplishments. Ruth momentously secured a $100 million dollar donation from the late Sydney Frank and started a revitalization of Brown’s academics and facilities while I was there. These significant accomplishments far transcend the labels of race and gender. Similarly the media is spending a great amount of energy on the race and gender of thi...

As USC's spring semester in my Annenberg graduate program is winding down and the weather is heating up, I thought it would be fun to reminisce upon my undergraduate studies' environment at Brown University. (Flashback to Sean at Brown University .) ...It definitely took a few years of adjustment for this Southern California native. ;)