Davis' personal life is a long and challenging story, some of which is revealed in his recently published memoir, Where There's Smoke ....

Davis is very proud of his two children, Rebecca and Melinda Davis. Rebecca runs the Rebecca Davis Dance Company in Philadelphia, which builds sustainable youth projects using dance as an educational tool and a method of reconciliation in post-conflict and developing countries such as Bosnia, Rwanda, and Guinea. Melinda Davis, is a cardiologist at the University of Michigan. He has two grandchildren, Amelia and Kevin.

Davis recently wedded the lovely Emmanuelle Herpin in France and is happier now than he has ever been. While the couple will often be separated by oceans and continents - Emmanuelle is the Director of Finance for the City of Hyères on the south coast - they will find many ways to be together.

Long and gangly in his youth, Davis never felt coordinated unless he had a board or two attached to his feet. Skiing, whether on snow or water, has been a lifelong passion. Most other forms of exercise, including the infamous Grouse Grind are considered training for skiing. Still, he has been reluctant to 'retire' and devote himself full time to skiing as many of his skiing friends have. His artistic career is still alive and active.

Politically, Davis has always been left of centre, the degree of leftness varying with circumstance. For Davis climate change is the critical issue facing humankind. He is worried about the lack of political will to deal with the problem. Was Easter Island a trial balloon for mankind?

Davis has never believed in aliens or alien abductions. A graduate in philosophy, he has ranged from agnostic to atheist. Much as people argue for the compatibility of religion and evolution, Davis suspects they are mutually exclusive.