Ellis, served in the Air Force during the Korean War, and graduated from the Honors College, Michigan State University.  He headed the Crime Analysis Unit of the St. Louis Police Department; worked as a senior researcher for good government organizations in Hartford and Boston; served as a consultant for the International Association of Chiefs of Police; and headed the Planning Bureau of the Mass. State Police.  He received a gubernatorial appointment to the Massachusetts Special Commission on the Operation of State Government. After, he worked in management positions with the U.S. Justice, Treasury, and Labor departments and was appointed the New England regional director of the Department of the Interior.  A frequent contributor to periodicals, he authored Mad Jack Percival:: Legend of the Old Navy, Naval Institute Press, 2002; A Ruinous and Unhappy War: New England and the War of 1812, Algora Publishing 2009; Luminaries of Early West Barnstable: The Stories of a Cape Cod Village, The History Press, 2009; and Myths, Tall Tales and Half Truths of Cape Cod, The History Press, 2023. Also, he edited Thoreau Overlooked: The Fourth Cape Cod Excursion Journal, 1857, Algora Publishing, 2024. His career helped develop his research skills as well as a deep appreciation and affection for the history and lore of New England and Cape Cod, themes that run through his writing.

Lowell lecturer, USS Constitution Museum (2002). Former president, West Barnstable, MA Historical Society. Life member, West Parish Memorial Foundation (historic preservation). Member the Mayflower Society and the Thoreau Society.