Bio

Early Years

I was born and raised in Indianapolis, IN. I grew up in what is now known as the Meridian-Kessler neighborhood four miles north of downtown. I have lots of stories to tell about this time in my life—but only in person, over coffee. 

Some highlights: I started taking piano lessons in kindergarten and learned to read music before words. I rode horses. Had a photography darkroom. Played with a model computer. Wrote stories on a small typewriter. Mowed lawns. Took long bicycle journeys all over town. Watched every episode of the original Star Trek, taping many of them on my cassette recorder. Dreamed of flying airplanes.

Education

My education started in 1961 at P.S. #84 in Indianapolis. Traditional 1960s primary education. Pledge of Allegiance first thing every morning. 100% absolute discipline at all times. Paddles hung in every classroom—used, but only on boys. The best and worst of government provided education. Special announcements from the principal over the intercom. One I will never forget: November 22, 1963, the day President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. I remember Mrs. Baker, my teacher, crying at her desk.

In 1970, I attended Broad Ripple High School. That was the first year Indianapolis Public Schools began busing students all over town on the basis of their race. The transition was abrupt and tumultuous. My freshman year I joined the Human Relations Forum, a group dedicated to promoting mutual understanding, and later became its president. I was also a piano accompanist for various choral groups. Fun fact: BRHS was David Letterman's alma mater; I knew his younger sister Gretchen.

In 1974, I attended Wabash College, one of the few remaining all-male undergraduate schools in the U.S. I earned my degree in Economics, was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa my junior year, and graduated summa cum laude. Thanks to a Rotary Foundation Graduate Fellowship, I got to study French language and literature at the University of Neuchâtel in Switzerland.

In my 40s I undertook a yearlong, fulltime, intensive technical training program in computer science, with an emphasis on software programming and database management. 

Communications

My work life began at Indiana Bell Telephone Company in Indianapolis, which was part of the old Bell System—aka "Ma Bell."  Through a management training program I gained experience in business services, corporate planning, and regulatory affairs.

While working at IBT, I discovered an interest in informative writing, and my trajectory changed toward a career in marketing communications and advertising. For more opportunities I moved to San Diego. And as time passed I specialized in public and media relations, eventually operating as an independent consultant.

Outdoor Adventure

In my communications consulting work I connected with some really interesting people. This led to a detour where I became the executive assistant to the CEO of an outdoor gear retailer, Adventure 16.

At A16 I met some of the outdoor world's most iconic figures: Royal Robbins (rock climbing pioneer), David Breashears (Mt. Everest mountaineer ), and amazing folks from Patagonia and The North Face. Fun fact: Steven Spielberg was a customer of the Los Angeles store. There was a shot of an A16 water bottle in a scene from the first Jurassic Park movie.

Tech

As the digital landscape shifted, so did my curiosity. I had been an early adopter of Apple and Microsoft computers, and a hobby became an obsession. I went back to school then moved into the IT world as a programmer and analyst. After the Dot Com crash, I changed the title of my resume and worked steadily thereafter as a technical writer creating software documentation.

This chapter took me to Seattle, where I collaborated on projects at Amazon and Microsoft. When I tired of the weather, I busted a move to the California desert and contracted remotely with MSN Video out of my Palm Springs condo.

Flying

As a child I dreamed of flying airplanes. Timing and opportunity finally aligned. I earned my private pilot’s certificate in California and started pursuing advanced flight training.

However, for health reasons I had to stop flying. I was devastated. But disappointment transformed into a desire to share my aviation experience. I wrote an ebook on becoming a pilot from a student's perspective that briefly reached the top of its category on Amazon.

You can read more about my aviation experience in the Flying section of this website.

Real Estate

By the time I stopped flying I had drifted away from tech writing. So I looked for a new challenge. I was always intrigued by real estate: "Under all is the land." I got my real estate license, first in California then in Indiana.

To be clear, I was never much of a salesman. Instead I made a point of working for various brokerages, taking every board class available, and going on endless home tours—all to learn as much as possible. To be honest, the real estate industry is seriously broken. If I live long enough, I may write about ideas I have to fix it.

Writing

I'm dyslexic. And yet writing is how I made my living. Ernest Hemingway once said, "The world breaks everyone, and afterward some are strong at the broken places."

As a wordsmith I'm okay but not great. My thing is to ask lots of questions, absorb large amounts of information, synthesize what I've learned, and then explain it to others. A human LLM, if you will.

I'm also really good at pattern recognition. The more I've learned, the more I see connections everywhere. Adjacent to that is reasoning by analogy. 

Note to file: When I got paid to write, lots of people read the text before publication. Now it's just me. Consequently, things can get garbled, especially if I'm tired or my meds aren't playing well together. So please forgive any typos or word salad you may encounter.

Also, I might be rewriting or correcting something while you're reading it. If you find an error or think there's a better way of saying something, refresh the page and see if it changed. If that doesn't work, please go to the Contact page and let me know.

But I digress.

My approach to writing has been influenced by a liberal arts education and the languages I've studied: English, French, German, Latin, Old and Middle English, Russian, and Spanish. For the record, in addition to my native language English, I only speak French somewhat fluently.

In college I wrote about academic topics. At work, business memos and white papers. Then marketing communications at ad agencies. Then PR propaganda. Then freelance journalism. Then computer code: Basic, C++, Cobol, HTML, Java, Javascript, RPG, SQL, and Visual Basic. Then creating end user, server admin, and code level software documentation.

My current writing project is my Blog.

Volunteering

"Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love."
— St. Teresa of Calcutta

I've always had a desire to help other people. The question has been how to do that most effectively.

My church in high school had Saturday help days when the youth group would assist someone in need.

Early in the hospice movement I volunteered at a local hospital Friday nights. The program was unique in its depth of training and involvement. I assisted people at the end of life and witnessed extraordinary things.

I did what I could during the AIDS crisis, having lost many close friends. Later I joined others addressing a rural community's struggles with broken families, substance abuse, and underemployment.

Now my mission is to validate the humanity of every person with whom I interact. That starts by listening with genuine interest, caring, and compassion. I'm not always successful in this effort. But when I am, life gets better for both of us.

The Rest of the Journey

Given various health issues there aren't too many years left. But like a pilot, I've maintained situational awareness and adapted to constantly changing circumstances. My energy and spirits are good, and there's more to explore and accomplish.

I have fought the good fight. I will do my best to finish this journey with faith, hope, and charity.

Peace be with you.