Original Philly Fanatic, Speaker & Happiness Advocate
Dave Raymond is the original Philly Fanatic, the beloved character he performed for sixteen years with the Philadelphia Phillies. Growing up as the son of legendary University of Delaware football coach Tubby Raymond, Dave stumbled into one of sports entertainment's most iconic roles — and spent decades making hundreds of thousands of people feel joy before understanding why he was so good at it. His deaf mother, Susie, unknowingly gave him the language of nonverbal communication that made the character come alive. When grief arrived all at once in his mid-thirties — a terminal diagnosis, the end of his marriage, a newborn son — the character he had built became the thing that slowly pulled him back. Now at 70, Dave is a speaker, author, and happiness advocate who has spent decades studying positive psychology and translating it into practical tools for building a meaningful, resilient life. He speaks to organizations and individuals about long-term sustainable happiness, finding purpose, and what it really means to not waste your suffering.
