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As an author I write mainly fantasy and science fiction but have branched out into mystery, suspense/horror and inspirational, especially when writing short stories.

In addition to writing, I am also an English teacher and a member of St. Paris's Village Council. I'm a husband, married to my wife for over twenty years and the father of two daughters.


  Below is my work experience over the years:

 

Camp Counselor Counselor for Children's Summer Camp Inc., Sand Lake Michigan. Mainly a camp with auto UAW member's children, with some children from various Children's homes. Ages 8-13.  I worked with the 8 yr. olds. Fun job, could have made a career of it, but seasonal and the pay was minimal.  Good stories about Skull Face and the Axe Man. Actually went there as a child with brother and cousins.

 

Kitchen Help Also at the Summer Camp. Offered a lot of freedom to do what you wanted when not helping prepare food and serve or clean up. But paid a whopping $28.00 per week.

 

Golf Caddie Worst job I have ever had. Note:  The richer the golfer, the cheaper the tips. While there were a number of polite and even interesting individuals, I met a lot of rude, obnoxious and self-important people as a caddie.

 

Dish Washer At the 52nd Street Deli. Not a bad summer job.  Washed every dish, glass, pot and pan by hand. At least when I do dishes today, it doesn't seem like much work.

 

Computer Lab Monitor Easy job. Helping people with the DEC system and then Unix. Ran a plotter, but really could do my college work, and send intersystem emails.

 

Library Assistant At BGSU's Library, mainly in Government Documents and some in Serials and reference. Kind of boring, but the co-workers were interesting. Sam (Coleen), Judith, and Mary "Bear" and some of the other student workers made it tolerable. It was interesting that students were not bright enough to man the reference desk or allowed to answer questions during the day, but when night fell, our IQ must have shot up 40 points as we were then more than qualified to do it.

 

Taco Bell Crew Member for several years.  Mundane job, but for a few exceptions was a place that was clean enough when the food was prepared to actually eat the food.  Can't speak for any other Taco Bells.

 

Movie Theater Ticket Taker Worked for National Amusements in a Movie Theater Complex collecting money for tickets. My sister got me the part time job. Pretty easy, and collected thousands of dollars in a very short time (30 minutes) on busy nights. Wisely an off duty officer was normally on hand.

 

Toledo Public Schools Substitute for many grades and classes for the first year, then taught Life and Earth Science at Jones Jr. High, then English at Macomber-Whitney Vocational and Start High School.

 

Food Quality Control Spent a little time working for Mike Sells Chips in the quality control department. A job with loud working conditions when inspecting on the floor. A boring job repeating the same tests over and over again in the little lab. From my perspective, it was a very clean place and well run.

 

Tutoring Tutoring as a Home Instructor for students with extended illnesses for Toledo Public Schools, and various Associate Schools of the Upper Valley Career Center. I also tutored students in Math and some in English and Reading on an individual basis (3rd to 12th grade). 

 

Sylvan Learning Center Not a bad part time job. Sometimes the hours, after teaching all day, really dragged but I was able to help quite a number of students. A little expensive for parents to send their kids, but sometimes you get what you pay for.

 

Landscaping Part-time summer job with Stace's Landscaping.  Mostly laying brick (paver) driveways, patios, and walkways. Some trimming and planting, etc. It's a job that will definitely keep you in shape.

 

English Instructor at Upper Valley Career Center

Since 1990 I have taught at Upper Valley Career Center (a career technical high school). I started out teaching Science and English and have moved to teaching only Senior and Junior English. Currently I also teach English via e-courses, having previously  and taught after school English, Science, Health and occasionally assisted with after school Physical Education.

 

Author

I began writing 2000 and I've found some success with nine novels, two novellas and a short story collection published. (With more on the way)

 

Village Council Was elected to serve as a member of the St. Paris Village Council beginning in January 2012 through December 2015.

In January 2016, was appointed to a vacant seat to serve through December 2017

Was re-elected to serve a four year term beginning in January of 2018 and 2022.

I also serve on the JSP Fireboard as an appointed Trustee (since 2017)

   

 A few additional facts: I'm an Eagle Scout, active member of the United Methodist Church where I teach Adult Sunday School and run the sound system, and I raise turtles in my basement (Red-Eared and Yellow-Bellied Sliders, and Eastern Box Turtles).

 

This page Last Updated:  1/23