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Mike is descended from two maternal great-great grandfathers who came to California seeking different kinds of treasure: One came looking for gold during the 1850 gold rush--and found enough to return east, marry his sweetheart, and then return to establish a livery stable in Gilroy. The second came west with a government survey party in 1856, and found land for a homestead in northern California. Mike's paternal grandfather visited Oakland in 1900, and in the absence of lake-effect snow, decided the Bay Area was pretty close to paradise. His parents met during WWII in Monterey, and Mike was born there in 1952.
After two stints in seminary, Mike joined the U.S. Army as a chaplain in 1980, and served three voluntary overseas tours in the Sinai Peninsula, Egypt, in South Korea near the DMZ, and in Saudi Arabia during Desert Storm.
A long-term interest in Vietnam caused Mike to leave the army in 1994 when the American embargo lifted, and he spent parts of the next 25 years first creating jobs in the urban areas, and later doing humanitarian work among the rural and remote poor--especially in the tribal areas along the Lao and China borders.
Covid shutdowns in Vietnam forced Mike to stay home in California for a season, and he is now writing books fulltime.
He and his wife Becky are busy with their church, and enjoy quiet times at home with their two cats Stripe and Checkmate.
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