Bio

I was born in the small town of Ironton, Missouri in the mid-40s.  My father was a minister and my mother was the devoted pastor’s wife.  We moved when I was three to Kansas City where Dad pastored several churches, then moved to Fulton in 1960 where I graduated from Fulton High School in 1962.  Dad was pastor at the Southside Baptist Church from 1960 through 1967.  It was during those teenage years that I started writing poetry, articles, short stories and novels.  Many poems were of a “grim” nature because I was usually either frustrated or felt depressed when I wrote them.  Further in-depth study of myself helped me to see matters in a different, more enlightened way and gave me a much greater peace Bio
of mind.
That feeling came about when I realized that a Higher Power held control over my life and although I felt free here on earth to explore many things because God gave me the mind to make my own decisions based on the “terms” I had set for myself it was I who set the terms and levels of frustration and worry.  Once I turned everything over to God, my writings became more positive and that feeling of emptiness I once had was lifted.  My faith in God and the good intentions of mankind grows daily.
I believe in the power of words, whether they are written, spoken or through the motions and spelling in sign language.  They can be used to empower or defeat, accept or deny.  My poetry is just one of many means of communicating.
Retired now, I make my home in Ironton once again after being gone for sixty years.  I write a poem every day, an article or two a week and have a continuing column at wickedwordsmith.com on the Web.  My pleasures are writing, feeding birds and taking care of my new cat, Mandi.