Who I Am
I am a true Jersey boy. I was born in St. Mary's Hospital in Hoboken, N.J. on June 29, 1960. (If you need a historical reference, it was almost two months after Gary Francis Powers was shot down over the U.S.S.R., and just two weeks after the movie Psycho made its debut.) I grew up in Carteret and Lakewood, N.J., graduating from Lakewood High School in June, 1978.
Straight out of high school I joined the Navy, serving as a radioman on the USS Manitowoc and USS America as well as in Keflavik, Iceland.
After my discharge, I worked at a variety of jobs that ranged from that of a sign turner for road crews to a gefilte fish factory.
Eventually I made my way to Pittsburgh as a student at then-Point Park College in 1985. However, because I was from New Jersey in a Pennsylvania school, neither state wanted to help me much. A friend offered me a place to stay in Lancaster County. I overstayed my welcome there, and in September, 1986 I ended up in a homeless shelter in Lancaster City.
While I was there, I wrote a two-act play based on my Navy experiences in 18 days. Shortly after that, I met and moved in with my future wife Beth.
We married in York, Pennsylvania in 1987. We have two children: Grant, 13, and Gracie, 10. We also raised an older son of mine, Marc, who is 23.
I began reporting for newspapers in 1989, covering sports for the York Daily Record. In 1990, I began covering municipal and school board meetings for the Intelligencer Journal of Lancaster. Later that year, I also started visiting police departments to get their press releases. Covering features also meant getting pictures as well.
I am now a full-time student at Millersville University of Pennsylvania, where I plan on receiving my undergraduate degree by 2009.
My eventual goals include earning a PhD and teaching composition and rhetoric at the college level.