A Short Bio, Part 2

Throughout those early years I learned much. I had a type of duality about myself where I lived one life with my friends and family and quite another where I lived a passion for a career and felt myself a man a bit out of time and also quite alone in it. As I look back on it now, both sides were a bit of a lie as I was not living honestly and was somewhat of an enigma to myself and others. It took some years for these two identities to merge and also for myself to mature. I had had relationship, relationships, experiences and tragedies and found myself disillusioned at the end of an arty road. I was at a crossroads where dreams meet reality and men meet themselves and I found the experience wanting.

Quite by chance I was introduced by my brother to an experiential leadership training called Lifespring. It was a very involved series of courses wherein your personal accomplishment lies in what you create in your period of discovery about yourself. I basically rebuilt myself from the ground up using quite the Existentialist philosophy of 100% responsibility coupled with intent and choice-kind of like the Marines without a war. I found much about myself I would have eventually discovered in future years of living only compressed by experiential processes into a short time frame. I went on through the Leadership Program and then staffed and coached courses and LPs in a period of volunteering.

I met my wife during this time of rebirth and married. Soon thereafter, I lost a dear friend and decided I had no time to waste on literary pursuits. I had a family and a different life. I went into business with the eye on continuing the creative ventures down the road when I was better financially prepared. I had always collected comics and rare books and that became my business. I opened Dark Adventure Comics in 1989 at a flea market with a friend and soon built it into a large operation with 2 store locations and an international mail order division.

Over the years I became an advisor to the industry price guide, had a market column in Comic Book Marketplace magazine, promoted and attended too many conventions and trade shows to count and met & worked alongside hundreds of artists, actors and people involved in the comics, publishing and film industries. Dark Adventure became one of the premiere names in the business in the years of comics leaving the back room and becoming part of the investment portfolio. Throughout that time I dabbled in writing, art and even shopping comic and graphic novels around but was never too serious due to business responsibilities.