I was born in 1952 in St. Louis, Missouri.  I earned a BS degree at the Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia in 1974 and an MS degree at Arizona State University, Phoenix, Arizona in 1975, both degrees in Electrical Engineering. I had a 42-year career, mostly in St. Louis, focused on the design of communication systems, my final position being Vice President of Advanced Systems Research and Development.

I have three sons and three of the best daughters-in-law anyone can have.  I have six grandkids -- three girls and three boys -- each son having two kids.  One son's family lives a country life in Gilliam, Missouri, and the other two son's families live a city life in St. Louis.

Between 2004 and 2016, my wife, Mary, and I had an experience of a lifetime.  We bought an old cottage in the rugged wild west of Ireland, on Achill Island, in the village where Mary's mother grew up.  It was a derelict family cottage that we restored into a Gentleman's Country Estate.  That experience has spawned a book (which I am still writing) and was a major factor in starting this website.

I retired in 2015 at the age of 63, the same year Mary and I bought a farm just outside of Gilliam, Missouri.  For four years, we spent half of our time in the best of urban living in a high-rise condominium in the Central West End of St. Louis (enjoying time with our city kids), and the other half of our time in the best of country living in our “barndominium” in Gilliam (enjoying time with our country kids).  We're now living full-time at the farm with monthly visits to St. Louis to keep up with all the family.

I'm now having the time of my life spending it with family, especially grandkids, writing, photography, cooking (which I discovered I loved as soon as I retired), home/barn-improvement projects (which I discovered I was pretty good at as soon as I bought the farm), travel with Mary, and trying to find time to learn to play the harmonica.