The Journey of an Inquiring Mind: From Scholar, Naval Officer, and Entrepreneur to Novelist
This memoir records, in great detail, my life of work during the 40 years before I met my wife, Joanne, and the story of our business lives together over the past 40 years.
My life of work included a wide variety of careers, jobs, sports, and hobbies that I mastered during the eight decades of my life. My first entrepreneurial endeavor was as a six-year-old merchandizer of eggs from my grandparents’ farm.
During my management training career, I created the term SKEs, standing for Skills, Knowledge, and Experience. The SKEs from my early childhood led to my career as a bait supplier for a local bait dealer during my two years in junior high. And the additional SKEs learned from being a bait supplier were the foundation for my successes as a naval officer, as a businessman, and now as an author.
For the last 20 years -- Joanne and I have worked day and night writing seven books. These include the five, award-winning Cottonwood novels. These books are set in a small Michigan town during the last five seasons of World War II. Then Sea Stories – a true story of my 11 years as a midshipman and Naval officer during the Cuban Missile Crisis and other dangerous Cold War adventures. And now -- this book, The Journey of an Inquiring Mind.
And I wanted to publicly thank those who supported Joanne and me during the various phases of our journey, especially those who embraced my career as an author. In Appendix C of The Journey, are the names of over 220 persons who lent their support along the way. While some people are no longer with us, others are our friends and neighbors today.
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