Strengths: versatile writer, publisher, editor and manager. I have been a professional writer for 40 years. I have been writing about disability issues since 1978, and I am an award –winning, weekly columnist for Business Week Online Magazine and Business Week Magazine. In 1982 I coined the phrase assistive technology. Since then a worldwide rehabilitation program has developed around “assistive technology in describing products benefiting people with disabilities. For seven years, I wrote a monthly column for the National Organization on Disability called Closing the Gap. I write a bi-monthly column for Action Magazine and Independence Today newspaper, and for three years I co-authored a bi-monthly column called Tech Connect for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society on www.mymsmyway.com I am the founder and publisher of Assistive Technology News, a tabloid newspaper covering assistive technology products and disabilities issues. ATN was published between 1994 and 1997. For 30 years, I have been writing on assistive technology’s benefits to people with disabilities. I have written more than 2,000 articles on disability issues. I am credited with raising the awareness of disability issues, and the benefits of assistive technology to an international level. Articles of mine appear on www.atechnews.com, www.nod.org, www.businessweek.com, www.unitedspinal.org, www.at508.com, www.eparent.com and other web sites. Since I started writing about disability issues, I interviewed former Texas Governor George Bush when he was running for the presidency in 2000, former President Bill Clinton, former Vice President Al Gore, Hillary Clinton, former Attorney General Janet Reno, Clint Eastwood, Governor Jesse Ventura, Newt Gingrich, former Senator Max Cleland, Congressman Jim Langevin, Vinton Cerf (one of the founding fathers of the Internet), Country Western singer Mel Tillis, Microsoft’s CEO Steve Ballmer, and other noted people in the disability arena. My former Business Week on-line column won the Easter Seals Equality, Dignity and Integrity Award, the Stuttering Foundation of America’s 2000 Journalism Award, TASH Media Award and the California Media Access Award. It was a contributing factor for Business Week Online receiving the New Media Excellence Award in 2000, for Easter Seals giving Business Week its leadership corporate award in 1999, and for McGraw Hill Publishing Company receiving the American Foundation for the Blind’s Lifetime Achievement Award for my 20 years of writing about products benefiting blind people. In November 2000 I received the Charles Van Riper Lifetime Achievement Award for my work in writing about stuttering and his leadership in promoting opportunities for people with speech impediments. I have been an environmental writer and covered NASA, the Congress and the Pentagon. I have written five books, edited two books on the environment, one on poetry and a NASA publication on A History of Sunspots. My articles have appeared in The Washington Post, New York Times, Houston Post, Los Angeles Times, The London Times, People Magazine, Newsweek Magazine, Mass Transit Magazine, The Boston Globe, Government Computer News, etc. My latest book titled Assistive Technologies: Exploring a Universe of Opportunities for People with Disabilities, published in 2003 by the CTC Foundation (www.ctcfoundation.org), can be previewed at www.atn-ctcf.org. My1976 Merit Badge Book for the Boy Scouts of America on Space Exploration remains the largest single selling Merit Badge book in the history of the Boy Scouts.My co-authored book with Dr. Frank G. Bowe, Planning Effective Advocacy Programs sold more than 35,000 copies, and I wrote and designed the first national Communications Resource Handbook for United Way of America in 1976. UWA sold more than 20,000 copies to its member agencies. I am one of the original writers of United Way/National Football Spots seen every Sunday during the NFL season. I have a strong background in production editing for newspapers, magazines, books and brochures. In 2007, I wrote six feature articles on assistive technologies for Exceptional Parent Magazine. In June 2004, I was a featured speaker at a Beijing U.S./China Conference on Educating Students with Special Needs.I have been to China also in 2005 and 2006. I have spoken at disability conferences in the United States, Europe, Asia and Canada. I have managed budgets from $50,000 to $2,000,000 and supervised 18 people. Between1969-1971, I was senior production editor for Federal Times, a weekly tabloid published by Army Times Publishing Company. I supervised two people, set up work schedules and handled a budget. I held supervisory and senior editorial positions at Army Times Publishing Company (1968-1971), Franklin Institute (1971-1973), Raytheon Services Company (1973-1975), United Way of America (1975-1978), the American Coalition of Citizens with Disabilities (1978-1981) and the Kamber Group (1987-1989). I had a very high secret clearance when I worked for Raytheon Services Company. I have a successful history of winning federal grants. I taught journalism classes, seven hours a week, at Trinity University in Washington, DC from 1989-to-1992. In March 2008, I received the Dr. Fred Strache Leadership Award at the California State University at Northridge (CSUN) 2008 Annual International Technology and Persons with Disabilities Conference. The award recognizes individuals for leadership in using technology to better the lives of people with disabilities. I have received 10 awards either as a journalist covering disability issues or lifetime achievement awards for my work in the disability arena. I love national and international politics. I am well grounded in American history. I am married, and have three children. I read French, Latin and historical biographies. I graduated from King’s College in Wilkes-Barre, PA in 1967 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy.
