Geoffrey Cloud: City Boy From the
Country
When
Geoffrey Cloud was a little boy in Sudbury, Mass., he
used to bring friends home to listen to his mother talk.
"He was always very taken with my accent," said his
mother, Bette Cloud. "He would say to his friends, `Well,
she can't help it; that's the way people talk in
England.'"
Years later, Mr. Cloud spent a six-month internship in
England's House of Parliament and became so adept at his
parents' native accent that when they got calls from a
mysterious Englishman offering them a great deal on
Westminster Abbey, it took them a moment to realize it
was Geoffrey.
But he remained an all-American boy. "He thought
England quaint," his mother said. "But he was always very
aware of how glad he was to be an American. He loved the
general freedom of self-expression and the lack of
snobbish social things that he thought got in the way of
life."
Mr. Cloud, 36, commuted from Stamford, Conn., to his
job as a partner in security regulations at Cantor
Fitzgerald. "He was a real city boy from a country town,"
his mother said. "I remember when we visited him on the
104th floor, looking down and seeing a plane flying below
us. He loved it."
He was also a sportsman, reggae fan, husband and
father. Now his children, Geoffrey, 8, and Jaclyn, 6, ask
their grandmother for stories about their father when he
was small. "They're reminded of their father in a very
good way," Ms. Cloud said. "They go around the garden,
and they sleep in Daddy's old room."
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