 | Born: April 3, 1963 (don't do the math) |
| Place of birth: Florence, Italy |
| Siblings: 2 brothers (both older); 2 sisters (one eldest; one youngest) --yes, that makes me the forth of five children |
| Parents: married nearly 50 years and loving it |
| Hometown: St. Anthony Village, Minnesota --it's a suburb of Minneapolis |
| Education: --Bethel College, St. Paul, MN: B.A. in Biblical and Theological Studies --Bethel Theological Seminary: M.A.T.S. (Masters of Theological Studies) (NOTE: I don't recommend either of these schools, for they are hostile to GLBT persons and have terminated professors that didn't hate queers enough). |
| Current Employment: Triage Consultant for an Employee Assistance Program. If you're ever offered a job with this title, run for your life! It's sadly funny that I was absolutely thrilled about this job before it started:( Yep, it's back on the search for a tolerable job to support my hobbies! |
| Ambitions: 1) Write approximately six theology books for queer youth; 2) write two children's books; 3) record two CDs of original songs; 4) spend my golden years as an artist, doing paintings and taking long walks with my partner, the love of my life--he's still hiding out there somewhere! |
I like the fact that I was born in Florence, Italy--it gives me the feeling
that life is an adventure. According to family legend, my birth adventure came
about when, at the request of my dad's job, our family lived for two years in
Florence--I saw the second year! It amuses me to think that my parents, who have
since lived in the same house for over 35 years, were once adventurous and
young.
As far as I can recall, I was five years old when I became a Christian by saying the "Sinner's Prayer", and I was baptized--Baptist style--when I was in the fourth grade. My parents, siblings and basically all of the relatives I knew as a youth were conservative Christians. Today, some of us have become moderates and liberals but most are still selling "Get out of hell free passes" that they get from "Sweet Jesus"--the Son of the guy who would just as soon torture us for all of eternity in hell if we neglect to become a conservative Christian (no other type of Christian is a real Christian).
In my life I have known extremes of popularity and that of being an outcast--and times of being somewhere in-between. I've had a good life on the whole, and I truly look forward to my continuing adventures. My dreams are bigger than I can realistically hope to accomplish, but I know with a lot of work and a little luck they could start to click-off one by one. Since money means very little to me, my "career" choices have often made little sense to my relatives--and sometimes even myself.
My biggest career failure was likely my year in Nashville as a singer/songwriter ('96-'97); yet, it was that year away from life in Minnesota that brought healing to my life as I finally came to peace with the fact that I was gay. Making that realization was a difficult journey for me, for I had been so thoroughly trained to be a conservative Christian that I survived my inner turmoil by dedicating myself to God and celibacy. Believe me, I wish I could have known my life as a gay youth, but if I had, I never would have written this book, either. So maybe all the strange twists and turns of my life do make sense--or a least can find their meaning in this book and any others that my journey inspires me to write.
Whatever the future brings, I hope this book helps you know that God's love is real and freely offered to all GLBT persons. May we all learn to rest in the loving embrace of our God.