About
Basketball is my current obsession. Specifically, the Milwaukee Bucks. I've been researching and writing poems about basketball -- the players, the leadership, even the water girl -- and my experiences with it. I dedicated the collection, tentatively titled 48 Minutes of Bliss, of Chaos to the Milwaukee Bucks. My heroes.
Here's the resume stuff. After earning a degree in English (and communication with a minor in journalism), the few poems I slipped into my journalistic portfolio actually nabbed me my first professional writing job -- as a scriptwriter. After a long career as a journalist, public relations executive, educator, small business owner, community builder and a small-time developer, I rededicated myself to poetry. Nearly 60 of my poems have been published in a variety of literary journals including: Blast Furnace, NPR’s Tell Me More blog, Sheltering with Poems, Poised In Flight: An Anthology, Lantern Journal, The New Poet, Midwest Quarterly, Midwest Prairie Review, Reed, Xanadu and Verse Wisconsin. I've read my poems in New York, Australia and Wisconsin. Awards include the following:
* A collection of five poems won Honorable Mention with the Council of Wisconsin Writers' 2022 Lorine Niedecker Poetry Award.
* "My First Orgasm" won second place in the 2021 Wisconsin Fellowship of Poetry Triad Contest.
* "On Shawano Lake," won first prize at the Writers' Institute of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
* "American Mother" was nominated for a Pushcart Prize.
* "Barkeep's Morning" received an honorable mention from the Wisconsin Writers Association Jade Ring Contest.
I was born in Memphis, Tennessee in the same apartment complex as Elvis. Yes, that Elvis. I grew up in Appleton and Kaukauna, Wisconsin and attended undergrad and grad schools in Milwaukee. After living in New York City and Kansas City, I settled in Milwaukee more than 30 years ago where I write full-time, read as much as I can, plan travel adventures and obsess over Wisconsin sports.
Here's the resume stuff. After earning a degree in English (and communication with a minor in journalism), the few poems I slipped into my journalistic portfolio actually nabbed me my first professional writing job -- as a scriptwriter. After a long career as a journalist, public relations executive, educator, small business owner, community builder and a small-time developer, I rededicated myself to poetry. Nearly 60 of my poems have been published in a variety of literary journals including: Blast Furnace, NPR’s Tell Me More blog, Sheltering with Poems, Poised In Flight: An Anthology, Lantern Journal, The New Poet, Midwest Quarterly, Midwest Prairie Review, Reed, Xanadu and Verse Wisconsin. I've read my poems in New York, Australia and Wisconsin. Awards include the following:
* A collection of five poems won Honorable Mention with the Council of Wisconsin Writers' 2022 Lorine Niedecker Poetry Award.
* "My First Orgasm" won second place in the 2021 Wisconsin Fellowship of Poetry Triad Contest.
* "On Shawano Lake," won first prize at the Writers' Institute of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
* "American Mother" was nominated for a Pushcart Prize.
* "Barkeep's Morning" received an honorable mention from the Wisconsin Writers Association Jade Ring Contest.
I was born in Memphis, Tennessee in the same apartment complex as Elvis. Yes, that Elvis. I grew up in Appleton and Kaukauna, Wisconsin and attended undergrad and grad schools in Milwaukee. After living in New York City and Kansas City, I settled in Milwaukee more than 30 years ago where I write full-time, read as much as I can, plan travel adventures and obsess over Wisconsin sports.