I grew up in a small, rural town in Kansas, graduating from High School in a town about the size of Saugerties. 

    After working my way through college as a musician, I enlisted in the Navy, serving during the Vietnam War.  I was selected to train as a Navy pilot, training that was interrupted by the loss of my only brother, a Marine helicopter pilot, at Quang Tri, and the subsequent request of my family to return home.

    With the help of the GI Bill, I earned a Masters Degree and began my career in government work in the New Zealand Department of Statistics.  Back in the US. I began work at the Pentagon, 24 years in the Office of the Secretary of the Army.

    During this time, my wife and I raised a daughter and son who, with their families, live in Amherst, MA and Redhook, NY, respectively. 

    With my second wife, I moved to Saugerties in 2013 and find that my current residence is the one in which I now have lived the longest and loved the most. 

    Since moving here, I have participated in several environmental campaigns, been a four-term officer of the Saugerties Democratic Committee, became a member of the American Legion, and now serve on the Saugerties Village Planning Board and the Tree Commission.