About

I was born during the Korean War and raised in a working-class family on Chicago’s Northwest Side — the second of seven kids. My father, totally blind since childhood, worked full-time at a factory while earning his college degree in Sociology. Before her marriage to my father, my mother earned her degree, also in Sociology, graduating third in her class while completely blind. “Where there’s a will, there’s a way” was something I heard often growing up.

I started out as a creative writing student at Columbia College Chicago, wrote on my father’s old Smith-Corona typewriter, then left college in 1975 to join the Navy.

After the Navy, I spent over a decade in industrial trades — welding, fabricating fluid transfer systems, eventually running a maintenance department troubleshooting CNC machinery. During that time, I earned two University degrees, two associate degrees, and a few certifications. My last profession was that of a nurse (RN/BSN); I would say it was the hardest job I ever had.

None of that is a résumé for the presidency. It’s a résumé for understanding what it’s actually like to live under the decisions politicians make without ever having to live with the consequences themselves.

I’m 74 years old. I live in southern New Mexico with my wife. I have no political machine behind me, no donor network, and about $1,000 in a campaign account. What I have is this book and the hope that not only enough people, but the right people, will read it so we can give this a real shot.