Abc
In Difficulty Lies Opportunity
My journey with melanoma…
Cancer Journey Blog
Travel
Blog
Writing
Portfolio
Hi
I’m Ken, a Writer
in Memphis
I’m a former elementary school teacher and retired corporate benefits manager, who is an active advocate for melanoma research and skin cancer prevention. My cancer story has been published (online) by several national melanoma organizations. After retiring in 2016, I decided to pursue my lifelong passion of writing.
While I write a little bit of everything—personal narratives, travelogues, short story fiction, personal profiles, and non-fiction essays—my ultimate goal is to write and publish a novel.
In addition to writing and advocacy, I volunteer (also since 2016) my time at the Blues Hall of Fame in downtown Memphis, which led to a late-in-life love affair with blues music and my latest turn as an amateur blues historian.
Finally, my other passions are gardening—mostly potted flowering plants—and traveling with my wife, Vicki.
From the Blog
Praise You!
April 26, 2022—Driving home from the West Cancer Center, I changed the car’s Sirius Satellite to Lithium, which is a channel dedicated to grunge and other alternative music from the 1990s. I had a pretty good morning, even for being at a cancer center. The CT scan...
Summertime (Part 3)—Pride and Joy
Writer's Note—This entry is the third in a three-part series entitled Summertime, based on that classic song from the musical Porgy and Bess. If you’ve never heard Ella Fitzgerald’s version of this song, you should. Late Summer 2021—The radiology technician led me...
Summertime (Part 2) — Paperback Writer
Writer’s Note—This entry is the second in a three-part series entitled Summertime, based on that classic song from the musical Porgy and Bess. If you’ve never heard Ella Fitzgerald’s version of this song, you should. Mid-Summer 2021—After my last CT scan in June, the...
Summertime (Part 1)— Livin’ Easy
Writer's Note—This entry is the first of a three-part series entitled Summertime, based on the classic song from the musical Porgy and Bess. If you've never heard Ella Fitzgerald's version of this song, you should. Here are some of the lyrics: One of these morningsYou...
Lucky Number 13
June 11, 2021— For centuries, the number thirteen (13) has been considered unlucky, which developed an irrational fear of the number and anything associated with it. Some historians trace the stigma of "13" back to Judas Iscariot—think Last Supper—the biblical...
I’m a Mess
April 28, 2021—The phlebotomy tech begins to poke an IV needle into a vein in my right hand. As part of the little stick portion of the process, he tries to distract me with small talk—a question about why I'm having an echo, questions about my overall health—and I...