In the beginning . . .

February 25, 2009

In the beginning . . .

You can find some of who I am nearby in my profile. What you learned there got you here. With any luck, what you learn here--additional details about my background, qualifications, and intentions--will convince you to keep coming back.

I'm a Baby Boomer—part of the initial wave—and I grew up in a hardscrabble country town in the Deep South—playing baseball, reading "The Hardy Boys" and Chip Hilton, and dreaming of escape. I attended the University of Alabama: majoring in history and minoring in English. Following graduation and commissioning—I had enrolled in R.O.T.C.—I served a stint in the Army, including a tour in Vietnam.

After military service, I worked in the Southern History Collection at the Birmingham (Ala.) Public Library and attended graduate school at the University of Alabama and the University of Iowa. Sequentially, of course.

Thus schooled, if not educated, I taught history at St. Ambrose University (Davenport, Iowa) and later at Scott Community College (Bettendorf, Iowa) from which I took early retirement in 2001. Along the way I married and had a son. My wife is a dentist and my son is a captain in the Army.

I've been a writer—mostly in my spare time—since I composed my first story at age fourteen. I've published hundreds of reviews and scores of articles over the years. I've also published four novels for juvenile readers and serve on the Board of Directors of the Children's Literature Festival. You can find a profile in "Contemporary Authors."

Books are one of my passions and my specialty. I've been an inveterate reader, librarian, teacher, and professional book reviewer. I still review regularly for "Publishers Weekly," the standard for book reviews, and have served as a judge for the Amazon.com Breakthrough Novel Contest. I will blog frequently about the books I'm reading, have read, or should read.

I'm also a movie buff. Growing up, I spent more time between the covers of books than at the local Picture Show, but that's because books were free from the school library and the bookmobile. It cost a quarter to go to the movies, and as my parents often reminded me, quarters didn't grow on trees.

But, I went when I could and developed an interest in cinema that has lasted a lifetime. Until I began writing for Military.com, I was a fan and student of movies, but I had never written about them. I first wrote book reviews for Military.com but my producer soon asked if I'd try movie reviews. I jumped at the chance, and over the years, reviewed hundreds of movies. I expect to cover movies--and the people who make them--here as well.

I was around for the "Golden Age of Television," and like most Boomers, have watched far too much over the years. I'm more discriminating these days in what I watch on the small screen, but I still watch because, at its best, television is creative and compelling. When it is, I'll be watching and blogging.

I grew up with traditional values—personal responsibility, self-discipline, hard work, sacrifice, et. al.—and they continue to inform my judgment and shape my perspective.

If these are things that you're interested in, I hope that you'll join my discussion of them. I will endeavor to be interesting, informative, and fair—even if occasionally provocative. I'll also try to post fresh content no less than three times a week.