Golden Feather Press
A Short Autobiography

In December, 1943, I was born in Denver, Colorado during a raging blizzard. Maybe that's one reason why, for the past two winters of drought, I've scanned the horizon for any signs of snow.

I grew up in a family with two brothers and two sisters and attended Catholic school until 12th grade. During my high school days, my grandfather taught me the art of gem cutting, and even gave me an exam. My "final" was to facet a topaz in a step-cut oval. I labored over that gem for weeks after school. When I finally presented it to him, he wept. Knowing I'd failed, I ran home without knowing my grade. An hour later, my grandfather appeared at our door with the gem. He told me I had surpassed his knowledge of cutting stones. Lapidary is the only thing I remember learning during my high school years.

A week after high school graduation, I entered the Christian Brother's Order of LaSalle and lived in Louisiana for a year and a half, then in New Mexico for the same period of time. Maybe it was when I slipped on a freshly waxed floor and banged my head that I finally realized I had no desire to be a teacher. I left the order shortly afterward.

After attending the University of Colorado, I moved to Los Angeles with my first lover. I left Bob in Los Angeles after a year and moved back to Denver where I worked at the Denver Public Library for many years. Later, I moved on to other agencies in the City of Denver, where I early retired several years ago. During this time, on the side, I cut gemstones as a business. Unfortunately, I never owned the quality of gemstones described in my books. The few remaining stones I have are still in Denver, and I will start cutting again someday. I was sidetracked by Jake and Wiley.

I met my lifetime partner, Jim, in a Denver gay bar in 1973. The bartender, seeing us eye each other, quickly got Jim and me talking. We moved in together a week later. We will celebrate our 30th anniversary in May of 2003.

Jim and I bought our two acres in South Park in 1975. We were horrified the monthly payments were $35. We began building a cabin on weekends. It first consisted of a 12' X 12' room, which we enjoyed for several years. In 1978, we added a 14' X 16' living room with a sleeping loft. The cabin didn't have running water or an indoor bathroom, but that made it all the more intriguing to be here. It was exciting to run to the outhouse in below zero weather. However, as we got older, it became a "frozen pain in the butt."

Now that we're both retired, we decided to live here at 10,000 feet most of the time. We drilled a well and built an addition. The new part has a dining room, pantry, indoor bathroom and two upstairs bedrooms. We love the house. The only drawback is we're 50 miles from any major grocery store. We buy in bulk.

Jim grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He got his teaching degree and his master's degree in social work in Salt Lake City, Utah, then promptly moved to Denver. He was married for seven years, all the while knowing he was gay. For several years after his divorce, our relationship with his two children and his ex-wife was rocky. However, we are all very close now. Jim's son and daughter, plus his ex-wife and her husband have stayed here many times. We all realize it's not good for our mental health to be at odds. Plus, we enjoy each other's company.

My own family, after the initial shock of finding out I was gay and Jim was now my partner, have been loving and supportive to both of us.