About me

About me. An historical stone-arch bridge on which I played as a child.
“An autumn afternoon in rural, upstate New York. Focus is on the architectural detail of a stone arch bridge built in the 1872. The passing stream reflects the trees and foliage of the woods.” Says Ron: The bridge never drew any attention when I was a child. I used to play on this bridge then, which actually has a second arch not visible to the left. Photo credit: Boogrich (iStock.)

This is a brief bio about me. I grew up in a small town in the Catskill Mountains in upstate New York. My parents ran a modest-sized resort called The Recreation Farm, which began as a convalescent home between the wars for people who had tuberculosis. Over time, new buildings were added. And there was the farm, with dairy cows, chickens and chores to do. I met a lot of interesting people at the Farm while growing up, many of whom were Jewish expats from Central Europe. I loved nature, science, music and literature. Looking back, I can see where God was working in my life even then, keeping me safe physically and spiritually until I came to faith at the age of nineteen. During my teenage years, I played bass guitar in a garage band that was featured at venues such as high school dances, summer camps and bars, (if the band could be located fifty feet from the bar where alcoholic beverages were sold, since all of us band members were underage.) My favorite bands and musicians are Bon Jovi, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, Bryan Adams, the Cranberries, Hillsong United, Journey, Peter Gabriel, the Police, and U2 just to name a few.

About me. Bass guitarist on a run in "E"
Bass guitarists are a breed of their own. Not my faithful Segovia, but this is what a bass guitar looks like. Also missing is the thumb pick I’d use, but in desparation I’d also cut my own picks out of Clorox bottles sometimes. This is because back then in rural America, music stores were few and far between, so you had to improvise. Photo credit: Evannovostro (Shutterstock.)

Some more about me. When I graduated from high school, I joined the U.S. Air Force and served for twenty years, retiring with a Master’s Degree and POC health experience, as well as experience teaching and in program evaluation. After retiring, I took post grad courses while teaching political science as a fellow at the University of North Texas until a fulltime position opened at Grayson College, where I also retired after twenty-three years. I’ve also worked as a full-time SARS-CoV-2 contact tracer in New York State.

About me. The ghostly Indian Pipe. One of my favorite deep wood plants.
Indian pipe (Monotropa uniflora) is a non-photosynthesizing flower which draws its nutrients from nearby fungi. Indian pipes are ghostly plants rarely found and then only in the deep wood. I used to look for them constantly. The plants are waxy to the touch and fragile as you can see in he photo. Don’t try to transplant them, they’ll invariably die if removed from where you find them. Photo credit: Kevin Wells Photography (Shutterstock.)

Following the death of the wife of my youth after forty-seven years of marriage, I remarried a wonderful woman who was widowed herself, and we relocated from Texas to update New York, not too far from where I grew up. I never forgot what is was like growing up in the Catskill mountains and I was eager to return.

A little more about me. Major influences in my life include Billy Graham, Arthur Blessitt, John Steinbeck, James Lovelock, Jack Chick, Johann Blumhardt, and Carl T. Hawkins who mentored me as a young Christian in the USAF.

I have two sons, Marcus and Joshua and a daughter Mary by my late wife Cathy. My sons live in North Central Texas and my daughter in Oklahoma. One of my sons are married and I have four grandchildren (three of which are in college.) My son Josh’s wife is Amy.

On my wife’s Deena’s side, I have two step-sons who are married and nine grandchildren. Deena is currently finishing her graduate degree.