This saguaro cactus was about twelve feet tall when we purchased our home in 1982. Over the years, it had doubled in size until it ended up being well over twenty feet tall. It was always the dominant feature Read more

Bad Idea.

I know that my brother Tony was especially angry about this. He confronted my parents many times to no avail. (I think this explains his liberal tendencies.)

When I became a father, I was determined that my children Read more

San Francisco

A few years after opening Ethel M Chocolates, Forrest Mars became very impatient with the rate we were establishing a retail market. He decided to come with me to San Francisco to look at potential retail locations Read more

At this period of time in my life, I was had only recently married Janet. Our social life evolved around many old and new friends of Janet’s that had also recently relocated to Las Vegas. We had not yet Read more

In the early 1980s, Janet and I used to go back to Green Bay every summer to spend time with family. My ex-wife and daughter were there and it gave me a chance to spend time with my daughter Read more

During the construction of Ethel M Chocolates, a big part of my time was spent installing the chocolate molding equipment to make the liquor chocolates and some other shaped chocolate pieces. In order to expedite this process, the manufacturer Read more

Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

When visiting Janet’s hometown, Rochester, NY, I was often asked,

“How did you meet your wife?”

Which translates in New York Italian circles to,

“What is a corn fed, mid-western nerd from Wisconsin doing with Read more

During the most difficult period of my life, I wrote this short story for an evening writing class that I took trying to keep busy and trying to get my personal life back on track. I was single again Read more

I went through the school of engineering before the days of even calculators, let alone computers. The only way to do the high-level math at that time was using a side rule and scientific notation.

It was not considered Read more

The summer between my freshman and sophomore year in college, my dad bought a small, used Cessna 172 single engine plane. The intention was that he, my brother and I all take lessons that summer to get pilot’s licenses.

Read more