The brief bio at the end of my published work describes my avocations and occupations as having included “being a husband, father, grandfather, lawyer, ranch hand, student, fisherman, amateur musician, literature enthusiast, and occasional writer of short pieces of fiction and nonfiction prose”. As that summary indicates, I have enjoyed an active and full life.
I am the fifth of six kids. Born to steady and loving parents who have now moved on, as my father would say, to greener pastures. My siblings and I were raised to be polite and respectful children. We were encouraged by our parents to believe that as adults we could do anything to which we might set our minds.
From childhood to the present, over the course of what has now been seven decades of life, I have lived in California, southern Oregon, and Washington state. What I consider to be my most formative years began on a cattle ranch in Oregon. I went from there to begin my higher education at Southern Oregon College. My postgraduate work resulted in a law degree from the University of Oregon. I practiced law from 1980 to retirement in 2021.
I have a lovely wife, Lori, two adult children, and four grandchildren. My wife and family are of paramount importance in my life.
I have long harbored an interest in creative writing, but the rigors of a 40-year-long career as a trial lawyer apparently required a deferral of my desire to write and publish books. That and family life, coaching sports, playing sports and music, and a lot of fishing. While domestic commitments and some of those recreational activities continue, each of which involves their own time devotion, retirement has released me from the hour and stress demands of a law practice.
With that, I am now free to pursue creative writing and publishing my own stories and novels. There being more time each day now to engage in that much-coveted pursuit is a life-change which has brought me great joy.