"I was born in South Bend Indiana on October 19th 1957.  I grew up in a small country town in Connecticut called New Milford with three brothers and a sister.  I was the second oldest.  My father was a Math teacher and my Mom was a Medical Librarian.  My father taught at Canterbury Prep School where I attended and Graduated from in 1975.  While in High School I played soccer,baseball and basketball.  I was also an associate editor of my schools newspaper.  I graduated with honors and after taking a few years off I furthered my education at the University of Tennessee in 1978.  While at the University I majored in Forest Mangement where I learned the Art and Science of managing forests for timber harvesting.I graduated from UT in 1982 with a B.S. in Forestry.  After graduating I worked in the Lumber business from 1983 -2000 as a lumber inspector where I put prices on boards of hardwood lumber.

            I started playing the harmonica in 1975 and have had an on again off again career as a musician playing in bands,duo's and trios.  My "Claim to Fame" came when I played in a band at the 1982 Worlds Fair.  Just recently I recorded my first CD with a lap Steele player.  I continue to play music and I am now a harmonica instructor.

             I was diagnosed with kidney disease back in 1985 and was told that I had scarring of the kidneys and would need dialysis sometime in the future.  I started dialysis in 2001 and the harsh reality of dialysis is that you can not live a normal life tied to a machine 3 times a week for 4.5 hours per treatment.  While on dialysis I attended Hope Community Church in Cary, North Carolina where I migrated to from the Northeast back in 1994.  While attending "Hope" a true miracle happened.  The pastor announced at a Sunday service that I needed a kidney.  Sixty people came from no where wanting to donate a kidney to save my life.  After a weeding out process a humble young man with a family of three was selected by the Duke University Hospital's transplant team to be my living donor.  The transplant took place on June the 26th 2006.

             Like most things in life circumstances change and I developed 'Chronic Rejection' in 2009.  My transplant is shutting down and I will need dialysis and a second transplant sometime in the near future in order to stay alive. "