Dying to Know Me Better? Here's Some Useful Poop

Sam thought all you readers out there might like to know a little more about me and what makes me tick (you do want to know right?) So, here's my official autobiography.

I am the author of four fiction novels: The Red Jacket, The Wine Red Road, Where Once Was Peace and Death in the Gallatin Valley. I currently am working on my fifth novel, tentatively titled Berkeley ‘69. I also write what I hope is a witty, humorous, sarcastic, social commentary blog called, According to Sam and Jim (accordingtosamandjim.blogspot.com) two days a week. I try to locate my fiction stories in real towns where I’ve lived or visited frequently. Subplots in my books often involve a relationship between a father or stepfather and son.

I draw from a wide variety of work and personal experiences for my writing. I retired from working as a right-of-way agent, buying and selling real estate for Washington State and Whatcom County (Bellingham), at the end of 2010. Prior to working for the government I was an independent real estate agent. I also have worked in a grocery store, as a collections officer for a finance company, at the U.S. Post Office, for the California Highway Patrol, as a restaurant cook and manager, as a newspaper reporter and publisher and as a magazine editor and freelance contributor. I’ve organized and managed golf tournaments, banquets, charity fund-raising drives, a chalk art festival and other events.

My hobbies are riding my bicycle in an attempt to stay fit, walking my little Shih Tzu dog Sam, solving crossword puzzles and watching sports on television.

I have four grown children; three girls, one son. Two of the girls and the son live in California. One daughter lives in New York City. I have six grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

I’ve lived in Washington State since 1978 and currently reside in Lacey, next door to Olympia, the state capital. I’ve been married 22 years to my wife Kathleen, who originally hails from Montana farm country outside of Bozeman and we love traveling back to Montana to visit her family every chance we get.

I like coffee and good conversation, wine and crisp fall days, especially fall mornings. I like cozy bed and breakfast inns, football and baseball, pasta, my Shih Tzu dog Sam and my truck. I like old time rock and roll and the opera or the symphony - country music not so much. I love looking for and finding the funny or ironic side of things. Favorite movies include: Moonstruck; A Man for All Seasons; Driving Miss Daisy; Sandlot; The Music Man; Calendar Girls; The Full Monty; Waking Ned Devine; and almost anything with Meryl Streep. The Star Wars movies were awesome too. The James Bond movies were great. I recently viewed Julie & Julia, The King’s Speech and Jersey Boys. I don’t watch much TV but currently am hooked on the Doc Martin series.

I like concerts (especially outdoors) and stage plays and have acted in a couple of plays and produced and directed one. I’ve done a considerable amount of singing, mostly in choirs. I loved singing a solo and a duet in The Young Messiah one year. I usually read trashy detective novels (love Robert Parker, Michael Connelly and Dick Francis), but I also read an eclectic mix of books like one about the CIA, another book called Confessions of An Economic Hit Man, Three Cups of Tea, Google Blogger and Pro Blogger. I read a lot of “Dummies” books.

I would like to travel more, especially to Europe again (especially to Italy). I like London, Toronto and Vancouver, B.C and Portland. Oregon, but I prefer exploring and discovering little towns rather than big cities. Favorite vacation spots here in the states include Bend, OR and Santa Fe, NM, and some places I haven’t yet visited. I think Niagara Falls is pretty awesome. My favorite town of all time is Fortuna, California, where I attended high school.

I come from a big family and am the oldest of seven children. I love large family gatherings like my Italian grandparents used to have. I love the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. I attend a Roman Catholic Church and the roof has not yet caved in on me

I used to vote Republican, but I crossed over to the Dems and I believe whole-heartedly in universal healthcare. I like driving fast cars fast and enjoy primal scream driving on country roads, though I rarely exceed the posted speed limit anymore. Personally, I think I’m better than a $20 bottle of wine.

A plaque above my desk says, “I wish I was a bear. Everyone would expect me to have hairy legs, excess body fat and wake up growling.” But I’m really just a big ol’ huggy-bear. My mantra is “be kind, give hope." Another plaque above my desk says, “If it wasn’t for coffee I’d have no personality whatsoever.”

There you have it. To quote Popeye, “I y’am what I y’am.”