I was born in Lima, Ohio in 1950 and spent my early childhood playing football and baseball with the neighbor boys, and exploring the woods with my dog Skip. My parents divorced when I was ten and I spent the next few years living in Columbus, Ohio and downtown Lima, then returned to live with my father and stepmother in my childhood home on Diller Road until I graduated from Elida High School in 1969.
I was drafted into the Army in March 1970, spent 14 months in Vietnam and served until October 1972. I worked a number of jobs and then, still working, attended the Ohio State University and graduated in 1990 with a bachelor's degree in journalism.
In 1996 I returned to Vietnam as a tourist, fell in love with the place and have been living and working here ever since. For the past 21 years I have been working as an English teacher at the International English School in Ho Chi Minh City.