I was born a Leap Year baby on February 29, 1936 and raised in the Pelham Parkway & White Plains Road area of the Bronx in New York City to
middle class parents on the verge of becoming upper class to which
level they would be by my 8th birthday. My brother was/is 5 years older than me.

At
the age of 11 I knew I was gay though some would say I chose to be gay.
At 11?!? Wonder what else I chose at that age? At 13 I 'came out' to my
parents and I spent my teen age years exploring my homosexuality in
Manhattan along with the theatre, movies, nightclubs, bars and baths.
The drinking age in those days was 18 and even at 14 I wasn't carded.

I went to and graduated from Christopher Columbus High School just going to classes and having very little interaction with other students as I was busy interacting with the gay society going to 'dinner parties' (another
word for orgies in those days.) After graduating I went to the State
University of New York for one and a half semesters before enlisting in
the marines.

By that time my parents owned a single family home and we had a 'summer home' in Lake Hiawatha, New Jersey. My brother graduated the Bronx High School of Science and was going to the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque
and was engaged to Carol who, 50+ years later, is still his wife. Now
that 'the kids were grown' my always on the edge of divorce were closer
to making the move.

I
enlisted for 3 years and served honorably until 2 years later when the
Korean War was over, and I was no longer needed, I was dishonorably
discharged. I was also to get involved with the HUAC because of my relationship and of which I have written about but the report will only be published 10 years after my death.
I only mention it now because those two events were to change the
course of my life. I would live in Hollywood, California on Laural
Canyon Drive next door to Marlon Brando and Laguna Beach, California having affairs with a well known acknowledged science genius, a famous director and a would be writer before moving to Miami Beach, Florida.

From the ages of 20-31 I was a waiter, fat, promiscuous, adventurous, experiencing my first live in lover, drinking heavy, moving back and forth between Miami Beach and Manhattan.

On
March 30, 1967, having seriously entertained the idea of suicide that
night, I took the step that would, over the next 4 years, turn my life
completely around. I would change mentally---no more being a habitual
liar--physically--losing 100 pounds--emotionally--opening, accepting,
giving love--vocationally--becoming a weight loss professional--moving
to another world--Memphis--being a big fish in a small pond--going
through a legal 'divorce'--opening my own business--failing and being
able to handle it--turning into the fabulous person I am still today!! 
LOL

In
the second part of this summary I will go over the next 31 years of my
life--the successes, the failures, the travels, the loves, the
bankruptcies, the money and how I wound up where I have and am--and, yes, I will talk about "A Chorus Line"!