My father was born in Italy. My mother was born in Colorado. They met and married in Southwestern Pennsylvania and never traveled again. I was a quiet shy dreamer growing up. My main pastime was observing people and dreaming of traveling to far off places. When I met my wife in college I stopped dreaming and moved into action. We have been traveling and exploring all life has to offer since. I went into the Coast Guard after college, expanding my world and beginning a life-time love affair with the sea. My wife taught school, taking time off to raise our three children, then going back with a vengance. I moved up through various positions in education; teaching, counselling, college admissions, and eventually Dean.  I also wrote numerous articles on education and economic developemnt for area newspapers. Through all those years, we continued to travel, taking many trips to Europe, throughout the United Staes, Canada, Mexico, Bermuda and the Caribean. We even opened and ran a small travel agency for a brief period. Upon retirement, we decided to return to Italy where we would enroll in a cooking school, hike the Tuscan country side, swim the Amalfi coast, and I would find my roots. Upon returning, I would write about it. The result was my book, Dolce Far Niente: Sweet Doing Nothing. I now give talks at Libraries, clubs and organizations on travel topics and expanding upon the book; working as much as ever, and enjoying every day. We now split our time between suburban Pittsburgh, PA and Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. After over a year and a half of doing research and traveling to the locations where my grand parents lived, I completed my second book, "Salvatore and Maria: Finding Paradise. It is their story, the story of the immigrant experience, and raising a family through hardship and challenges. I was privileged to have a publisher pick up the book. It was published by Bottom Dog Press, and I continue to give talks and do signings, enjoying every minuet of it.

B.S. in Education, California University of PA, M.S. in Counselling, Duquesne University, Ph.D in Higher Education Administration, University of Pittsburgh. Coast Guard.Forty years in education. Past President of Chamber of Commerce and recipient of its Arcadia award for distinguished leadership and service. Publisher's Choice award from iUniverse.
Past President, California University of PA Alumni Board.