I was born in Saint Albans, West Virginia, and moved to Hinton, West Virginia, when I was a year old. From there, the family moved to Charleston, West Virginia, and in 1963 to Sarasota, Florida. After graduating from school, I spent time in the Army until 1973. The following twenty-seven years, I spent at the wheel of an eighteen-wheeler crisscrossing the fruited plains of America. I came off the road and taught adventurers how to master the big trucks, teaching them driving theory. After that adventure, I returned to trucking as a dispatcher for drivers on their journeys. I retired and am now an Associate Pastor at the First Baptist Church in Durant, Florida.