As a native of Port Clinton, a good part of my early life was spent in and around the water. I remember eagerly awaiting the arrival of summer vacation because that meant I'd be able to go fishing any day I wanted. But those lazy summer days of endless fishing came to an abrupt end around the time I turned fourteen. At that point, a previously recessive gene began to assert itself prompting me to trade my fishing pole for a cheap guitar with strings so high off the fretboard it's a wonder I didn't injure myself. I guess that shows how determined genes can be.
During high school, the guitar and I became inseparable and after graduation I took it with me when I attended Ohio University. The music scene in Athens in the 1970s was vibrant and seemed ripe with possibility, so the following year I dropped out and began performing in local bars and restaurants. Making a living as a guitarist in a small college town, however, wasn't as easy as I had hoped and after a couple of years of barely getting by, I decided to attend a trade school and get a real job. Upon completion of the program, I returned to Port Clinton and established my own home decorating business. Several years later I moved to Palo Alto, California where I again started my own business and played guitar in local restaurants. Feeling that life was somehow incomplete without Mayflies and mosquitos, I returned to the Walleye Capital in the late 1980s, enrolled at BGSU, and graduated with a degree in Liberal Studies.
After graduation I stumbled into a number of teaching-related jobs and soon discovered how much I enjoyed working in that capacity. I've had the pleasure of working as an instructor in adult education at both BGSU and the Whitmer Technical Training Center in Toledo. At BGSU I taught adult learners how to build their own computers and how to use them; at Whitmer I taught an adult math class for workers entering an apprenticeship program. I've also worked as a math tutor in an after-school program called Champions for Children in Port Clinton and have tutored junior high and high school students in math. I have an avid interest in Tai Chi and have taught adult classes in Port Clinton, Perrysburg, and at the BG Community Center on Newton Road.
I've often been accused of stubborness, which probably explains why it took so long for me to realize how fortunate I would be if I could find a way to combine my first love (guitar) with my strongest talent (teaching). When that realization finally hit me, I threw caution to the four winds, dove in and have never looked back — at least not with any regrets. Five years later, I maintain a hectic schedule teaching guitar six days a week from my home-based studio in Portage, where I typically have around 40 students, from beginner to advanced, who range in age from 6 to 60.