“Safe Passage” was a perfect example of who I am and what drives me. Chris Casaburi came to me and asked if I wanted to join with him and some others in a 21 day video contest. We had three weeks to write, film and produce a 5-8 minute video with only the title given to us. Working with a blank page and a team of friends, we dug in and created something totally outside our comfort zone. Sure, it’s not an Oscar winner but besides being very proud of it, the process brought out the best in all of us and we were left with a wonderful little gem of art.

So that’s what I am, an artist. I kicked off my career with the most unusual gig of entertainer on Amtrak’s Train #81, the Silver Star, a sleeper from NY to Miami.

I learned the trade of a recording artist in the 70’s at Chip Taylor’s studio, owned also by his brother, Jon Voight, and his keyboardist, “Crazy” Joe Renda. I tutored with the man who wrote “Wild Thing” and “Angel of the Morning.” And I met and worked with his many songwriting partners: Billy Vera (“At This Moment,”) , L. Russell Brown (“Tie a Yellow Ribbon,”) I also brought in old Bronx buddy, Ace Frehley, to record and worked with him on KISS Dynasty tracks, including my idea of “2000 Man'“ which became a signature song for him. We stayed friends to this very day, and even wrote a song together for his Billboard #9 LP, “Space Invaders.” “Past The Milky Way” is a fan favorite but about an ex-girlfriend of his. So, it doesn’t get much airtime.

Songwriting and short stories were my art for the next several decades although I never reached mainstream. Along the journey, I found I was a top-notch team-builder and worked with over fifty Fortune 500 companies around the country and the world (Chevron brought me to China to teach their China Energy group.)

In my late twenties, the Scandinavian sport of Orienteering completely captured me and I threw myself into it. You are given a detailed topo map with circles on it indicating the location of checkpoint flags. Visit them all in order and the fastest time wins. Map-reading Tortoise can beat the very fast Hare. And I proceeded to teach school children as well as corporate leaders the finer skills of problem-solving on the move. Bjorn Kjellstrom, the man who coined the term, orienteering, as well as inventing the modern-day Silva compass, became my friend and mentor. He sent me to Sweden to learn the finer things about teaching maps from the world’s best. He taught me more than that. He showed me how a successful millionaire communicates and is with the world.

Filming “Safe Passage” on the Appalachian Trail in Pawling, NY with Chris Casaburi, October 2020. Picture by Doug Abdelnour, Bedfoto.com