Relationship
Married
Hometown
Grew Up in New York, New Jersey & Vermont
Places I've been
Each of the states in the United States plus Puerto Rico, The Virgin Islands, Canada, Mexico, Cuba, Jamaica, England, Scotland, Germany, Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, Monaco, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Sicily, Spain, Greece, Belgium, Turkey, Lebanon, Egypt, Japan, Thailand, Korea, Philippines, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Russia, Estonia, Poland, Norway and a few other places. My banner photo was taken in Gdansk, Poland. Did I say we love to travel?
More about me

In my life I have had three related careers; I was in broadcasting & public affairs in the United States Navy, I was an owner of commercial broadcasting properties, and I was chair of a national public broadcasting organization.  I studied radio & television as an undergraduate at Butler University and as a graduate student at Boston College.

My wife, Nettie,  and I divide our time between Chicago and Lincoln, Nebraska.  She is a professor in Chicago and we are co-authoring a book.  We have one married child in graduate school and who started her teaching career in 2010.  Four of our six children are married and three of them have children of their own

I retired from broadcasting in 2002 and in 2011 I completed my second and final term as a human rights commissioner.  I have also been involved with cultural and civil rights organizations for years. 


 

 

 
Favorite Books
Dreams From My Father by Barack Obama, The Stand, Bias, Eats Shoots and Leaves, All The Best--George Bush (the father), Big Russ and Me, QB7, Topaz.
Favorite Quotes
"Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass, it's about learning to dance in the rain." -anonymous
Favorite Movies
Casablanca, Rear Window, Some Like It Hot, Irma la Douce, Remember the Titans, Love of the Game, The Godfather (all three), The Lost City, Fracture, Pieces of April, Other People's Lives, Away From Her
Favorite TV Shows
I'm a news junky. All sorts of news and public affairs programs plus Grey's Anatomy, Brothers & Sisters, and ESPN's Mike & Mike In The Morning.
Favorite Charities
Cancer and Heart-related charities
Favorite Music
World Music, Contemporary Pop, Oldies, Classical, American & French Jazz, Italian Opera, Country ala Patsy & Willie--Bocelli, Sagovia, and Chet Baker
Activities
Travel, photography, watching old movies, going to major league baseball games, eating well, playing Scrabble, reading, walking, talking politics, and playing golf.
Favorite People
Bobby Kennedy, Barack Obama, Barbara Jordan, George H. W. Bush (the father), Hank Aaron, Roy Campanella, Dennis Kucinich, Martha Stewart, Gary Sinise, George Clooney, George Will, Diane Sawyer, Harry Truman, Thomas "Tip" O'Neill, Everett Dirksen, Ellen DeGeneres. More to come.
Favorite Places
The Isle of Capri, Key West, Chicago, Copenhagen, Montreal, Seattle, Vermont, Rome, and our fireplace room.
Favorite Animals
Our shih tzu, Max, and most penguins.