About The Late-Life Biker

I am a retired broadcast journalist, writer, and teacher. I bought my first motorcycle at the age of 66. In my first life I was a skier, a SCUBA diver, a small plane pilot, and a trans-Atlantic sailor. I have always been a reader of well-crafted escapist fiction. I enjoy good wines and quality Irish and Scots whiskies. I eat anything; I eat well; and I over-eat often. And I believe every good meal should begin with a great martini. I grew up an army brat at a time when it was a rewarding way to live and to learn a lot of things that would prove important in later years. I was a lifelong Boy Scout-- right up until the day I joined the navy at 17. Taken individually and collectively the two experiences were the most important influences in shaping me as a man. My mother's teachings and her personal example were equally influential shapers of my integrity, work ethic, and pride. I was a moderately unsuccessful college student after my four years of naval service. But an inspiring and rewarding career overtook me, and in time I discovered my academic self and tried again-- earning a masters degree. Eventually I would serve on the journalism faculty of a prestigious and respected university. Religiously, I'm a freelancer. I long ago rejected fear, awe, and intimidation as a sound basis for inspiring morality, and since then, my god(s) and I have enjoyed a reliable relationship that is really no one else's business. I've lived in Europe for a total of five years and speak a bit of German, pretty good Italian, and a smattering of what the British call English. The most beautiful things I've ever seen are a storm at sea and Michelangelo's Pieta. The ugliest things I've ever seen were all manmade and were often brutally wielded by one person or group against another. I unabashedly confess that my greatest love is not life, but living. I regret the decades I spent pursuing it as though it were a hobby. And my greatest fear is not death, but dying. I've been fortunate enough to see little of it, but what I've seen makes me dread the process far more than the outcome. And finally, my single greatest joy is the effortless act of sharing. It's my objective in my blogs, my inspiration when I write, and my motivation as I teach. I think what I love most about it is that you can't possibly do it alone.