Born in the middle of the Great Depression the author spent much of his early years traveling as his family searched for job opportunities throughout the war years of the 1940’s. After enduring many operations recovering from a childhood accident he went to high school and started college. His schooling was interrupted by a marriage which set him upon an odyssey of many jobs and skills. After a divorce, a remembered love, a dedication to his artistic skills, he decided to live alone, teach art and paint all the vermeers.