I was born in 1928 and spend my childhood living through the Depression and World War II. I joined the Navy in 1946 and later went to college on the G.I. Bill. I met my wife Barbara in college. I worked in the packing houses from the age of 14 and started teaching school in 1951. I taught in Australia and was an advisor for the government of western Nigeria. My wife and I have traveled widely. I got my Ph.D. from the University of Iowa in 1961 and taught at Northern Illinois University, retiring from there in 1998. I was an honorary member of the Seargent's mess of the Royal Australian Survey Quarter and a member of the Winnebago (Nebraska) Veterans' Association.