About The Author

I was born in 1953 and raised in Newark, California, a small town on the outskirts of Fremont. I grew up in a home with a traditional homemaker mother and provider father. My mother’s world was her home and children – she never even learned how to drive.

The neighborhood was my world, I would be gone for hours exploring and playing with friends and riding my bike without checking in. Crime was unheard of. I played basketball, football, army, tennis, soccer and baseball at school and with friends. My friends and I hiked in the nearby hills around the south San Francisco Bay – no cars necessary, everything was walking or bike distance away. I enjoyed many hobbies ranging from art to science – built a meteorology station in my bedroom and learned to paint with oils from my grandmother. My childhood dream was to someday explore Canada’s Northwest Territories.

I served a mission in France for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon Church). Earned a B.S. in electrical engineering at U.C. Berkeley. Married in 1976 to a wonderful woman after a 3-month engagement. We were blessed with 12 children – five boys and seven girls and 24 grandchildren. I worked as an electrical engineer for 22 years in diverse companies ranging from military electronics designing bombs and missiles to consumer electronics designing cell phones. Participated in the design evolution of cell phones from the size of a brick to the size of a candy bar. Earned three more degrees – B.A. in engineering management from Santa Clara University, an M.S. in physics and an M.A. in political science from San Diego State University.

I taught physics, engineering and physical science for ten years as an adjunct professor at local colleges and universities. Founded a non-profit organization, authored a book and lectured nationwide on American History and U.S. Constitution for ten years for The Center for Teaching the Constitution. Owned and operated a 32-acre farm and roadside farmstand in Kerby, Oregon for four years conducting outreach classes on nutrition for the community. The first part of my career was involved in destruction, the second part was involved in creating and nurturing; the second was penance for the first.

I now reside on a 20-acre family farm in Temecula, California enjoying nature, family, friends, sunshine, gardening, writing, art, music and backpacking vision quests couched in the four pillars.