Career
With the exception of a few years in Dallas, Texas. I spent most of my early years in North Carolina. My father was a home builder; this gave me opportunities to learn drafting and home design, ditch digging, and carpentry after school and summers. Those early years gave me a fondness for most things construction and a better understanding of how materials fit together. I rely on that experience still today.
After graduating from UNC Charlotte, I moved to the Bay Area. I gained enough self-taught CAD skills to get my first full-time professional job with YH Lee Associates in Oakland, where I had the opportunity to work on all aspects of a wide range of projects (Ultimar, Ogawa Plaza, Oakland Area Renovation). After many years at YHLA, I experimented at a couple of other firms across the Bay until I found a collaborative environment in the mid-sized firm Fee Munson Ebert/FME. Over nearly 20 years at FME, later rebranded to FORGE, I was provided with projects of increased complexity, range, and uniqueness (Cathedral School for Boys, The Battery, Hooper)
In the summer of 2020, relatively early in the pandemic, our family left our small San Francisco apartment for Chicago, my wife’s hometown, where I have continued to work remotely for FORGE, Design Everest, and other smaller projects.
Interest
I have always been a tinkerer. As a kid, Legos, Erector Set, and building model kits were some of my favorite activities, along with taking apart small appliances. Sometimes, I was able to get them back together. Later activities to keep my hands and mind busy grew to woodworking, bikes, cars, then motorcycles, welding, and a bit of electrical work. Now, as a steward of a nearly 100-year-old home, much of my free time is spent on home improvements.
My greatest avocation for the last 25 years has been motorcycling. After a breakup, I bought a motorcycle for $700, with the plan of just putting around town. It was not long before I found myself taking day trips, then weekend trips up and down the California Coast. Those trips grew longer (and faster), Yosemite, LA, Reno, Mexico. Plus. There was fun to be had with clubs, events, and, of course, a diverse group of pals. The Bike took me to so many places I would have never imagined!
Some of the most fun events with the motorcycle were volunteering as a road marshal for various sports and charity events, like the SF Marathon, Escape for Alcatraz Triathlon, and Bike to Hope charity ride.
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