Personal Background.

I grew up in Auburn, Maine and lived in the same house (built by my father) from the time I was born in 1965 until I graduated from Edward Little High School in 1983. It is strange to think that, in this day and age, my mother has had the same phone number for my entire life. My father was a Maine State Trooper who died of a brain tumor when I was quite young; my mother grew up in New Brunswick, Canada and moved to Maine as a young adult. Her longest career was as a school teacher, mostly in Auburn Maine.

After graduation, I joined the United States Marine Corps, and served until 1986. I didn't see too much of the world, only being stationed in North and South Carolina. When I got out, I returned to Maine and completed my undergraduate education at the University of Maine at Farmington in Farmington, Maine. I then moved to Detroit, Michigan, where I completed my Masters and Doctoral degrees at Wayne State University and began my professional career. Since then, I have lived in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Beaverton and Portland, Oregon, and currently in Piedmont, South Carolina.

My wife Amy and I married in 1998; we have a daughter, Mya Joy (currently 6) and a son Max Logan (currently 7). Amy has a Masters Degree in Industrial/Organizational Psychology and a J.D. with a specialization in employment law. She currently serves as the CEO of our family, but prior to moving to South Carolina worked for several years as a human resources consultant for a small consulting firm and as an internal organziational development consultant for a hospital system. Most of the rest of my family lives in New England. Amy's family lives in and around Kansas City, MO.

I enjoy both playing and watching sports. I am a pretty good skiier, having grown up skiing on the icy slopes and fields of Maine. I also enjoy playing basketball and softball, although I rarely get the chance these days (I am getting too old to jump anyhow)! I am a life-long Boston Red Sox fan, having attended my first game at Fenway in 1975. I grew up with the Boston Celtics, of course, and became a very big fan of the Portland Trailblazers while we lived in Portland. I am a little less interested in football or hockey. Since my wife is from Kansas City, we follow the Kansas City Chiefs to some degree and I became a bit of a Detroit Red Wings fan during the Steve Yzerman years of the Detroit Red Wings when I lived in Detroit.

My work and family life keep me busy enough that I don't have time for too many hobbies and interests. My wife and I enjoy working out and doing projects around the house and I have an unhealthy addiction to fantasy sports. I enjoy music and have played guitar in several jazz/blues/rock bands over the years, bands with names like Upstroke, The Others, Naked Squirrel (not my choice!), Studio 909, and currently Blaming Amy (mostly 1990s Alt rock). I enjoy a wide range of music, with some of my personal favorites being the Grateful Dead, classic rockers like Bob Dylan, Steely Dan, Led Zepplin, and the Rolling Stones, jazz greats like Miles Davis and John Coltrane, and slightly more contemporary acid jazz/chill music such as Thievery Corporation and St. Germain.