ARTIST PROFILE

With the initial cancer diagnosis came well-intended advice to slow down, take it easy, and reflect on pleasant days, past. He said, “No, but thank you for caring.” Then, with camera and pen in hand, and with his family’s blessing, he took a deep breath, laced up his boots, and took off to the remote edges of our world.

While hiking to the Mt. Everest Basecamp, the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro, the Upper Amazon rainforest in the Peruvian Andes, Machu Picchu, and exploring the Galápagos Islands off the coast of Ecuador, Michael often stopped to capture precious freeze-frame moments.

If asked, he will tell you, short of family, he wouldn’t trade his passport memories for anything. They are priceless. Strangely, he will say the same for his cancer journey. Together, they helped move an already beautiful Technicolor life into a unique high-definition adventure. An on-going experience he feels compelled to chronicle and share with both words and pictures.

Of course, one need not travel thousands of miles to capture beauty and wonder. The vast majority of his work comes from, and represents, the moments available to all of us, everywhere, every day.

His distinguished professional resume includes successful entrepreneur, university professor, community organizer, and US health policy advisor. His writings have been distributed to millions throughout the world and have been endorsed by scientists, politicians, advocacy organizations, business leaders and media personalities including George HW Bush, Betty Ford, Willie Davidson, C. Everett Koop, Ken Blanchard, and Larry King. Following suit, his photography continues to gain recognition throughout the world.

Michael completed his graduate studies at the University of Michigan, is a Vietnam Era veteran of the US Air Force (1967-1971) and a recipient of the Commander’s Coin of Excellence from the US Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine. A proud father of three and six times a grandfather; he currently lives in Canton, Michigan with Hillary, his life-partner, and inspiration for the past 50+ years.