My first article, published in the Minneapolis Star Tribune, was written after watching a bullfight in Juarez, Mexico.

The first check I received for my writing was from Dow Jones for quatrain published in the Wall Street Journal.

I was privileged to be invited to be one of 135 alumni from the College of Liberal Arts at the University of Minnesota asked to contribute an essay to 135 Voices, a book published to celebrate the 135th anniversary of the college.

In 2005, the College of Liberal Arts included me in its Awards to Alumni of Notable Achievement. Writer's Digest honored my writing with a Certificate of Achievement in 1997.