“I grew up a second generation American in central Maryland and graduated from high school without any sense of where to go in life—apart from knowing I never wanted to go to college. Pharmacist Bill Jackson hired me to work in the community pharmacy of which he was a co-owner and took me under his wing. His patient mentorship led to me college to complete my pre-pharmacy undergraduate work with a goal of opening my own community pharmacy in western Maryland. I haven’t left higher education since my first step on a college campus.

Key parts of my life experience that have shaped me as an author include accumulating a series of incurable chronic ailments over the past thirty-five years and a painful fifteen year journey with a son mired deep in drug abuse. His untimely death has cast an ever present shadow that I presume will continue to be with me until the end of my days on this earth. Guided and empowered by the grace God has given, as well as encouraged by my incredible wife, the physical and emotional trials have been refining instruments of my character. They have also made me more alert to the suffering of others. My efforts as an author are one means to help others who are trying to navigate through dark valleys. While it is a bit scary to put personal elements of your life in public view, credibility is often gained through shared experience. I well know, as songwriter Andrew Peterson declared, “this life is not long but it’s hard.” Through words on the written page, I hope to come alongside those living through hard circumstances—to help ease their way just a bit and to point them to the light that can be found beyond the darkness.”