I was born in Independence, Kansas, but I've spent my entire life in Denver, Colorado. I'm a graduate of Metropolitan State University here in Denver. I've been active in baseball throughout my life, and in 1993 I started throwing batting practice for the Colorado Rockies. I threw for them through the 1999 season which led to the writing of my first book about those amazing six years. It's titled Fat Pitch, published in 2001. FAT PITCH This is a nostalgic, humorous and insightful look at not only the beginning of the Colorado Rockies but a history of their transition from Mile High Stadium to Coors Field. It's a book any baseball fan will enjoy because it not only deals with the Rockies but how and what batting practice is all about and the funny and strange things that can take place during BP. I was also fortunate enough to get to go on the road with them and throw at Wrigley Field and get involved with presenting Sammy Sosa with a painting by well known sports artist, Malcom Farley, who I happened to be representing at the time in 1998, when Sosa broke the homerun record. I then got to go to Dodger Stadium and throw off the same mound my favorite pitcher of all time, Sandy Koufax, threw off of. I think you'll find an inside look at those ballparks and locker rooms interesting. What a journey, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.Jack Zane - Evil at Storm Lake I was then completely hooked on writing and followed up Fat Pitch with a murder mystery, Jack Zane - Evil at Storm Lake. This is a dark tale about a serial killer's reach from the grave, haunting lives twenty years after his death. Legacy of a Monarch an American JourneyThis was my next book and is the biography of Byron "Mex" Johnson, an All-Star Negro League baseball player of the 1930s -1940s and the grandson of a slave. It is a history of not only a black baseball player, but of an African-American's journey through American history. With a forward by President Bill Clinton and an introduction by Don Baylor, Legacy of a Monarch was honored and inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, June 10th 2006. As the author, getting to present this book at the HOF in front of Byron's family, as well as my own, was a privilege and experience I will always hold dear.Seams I've always loved the history and tradition of baseball having grown up watching my two favorite players, Sandy Koufax and Willie Mays in their prime. The evolution of the game has certainly been interesting, controversial and exhilarating, but down through the years the game as stayed remarkably the same, throw the ball, catch the ball, hit the ball. Given baseball's extraordinary history which goes hand in hand with American history I undertook a story line based on old time baseball, starting in 1915, which transitions into the modern era centered around one family's love of the game, set in the small rural town of Washington, Missouri. It's the account of one man's improbable journey from local pitching guru to the game's biggest stage - the World Series. Along the way he must deal with the Great Depression, WWII, personal setback, murder and death. Some of the story is personal for me and my family while the majority comes from my love of the game and all its far reaching implications felt by any and all who have an unwavering passion for it. If you have a keen interest in baseball, baseball history, American history and baseball characters from times gone by, then this is the book for you. Eli Cooper - A Saga of the Old West This was absolutely the most fun I ever had writing a book. I've always loved westerns and this was a chance to demonstrate that passion. The post Civil War west was wild and untamed. Eli Cooper grew up at such a time in western Kansas. After watching his father gunned down at a young age, he vows to take revenge on the killers. It's a passage from youth to manhood as an unwitting gunslinger, trapped between longing and certainty, with an outcome he never saw coming. If You Come To a Bridge - You've Gone Too FarI've owned my own insurance inspection business for 37 years. This book is a compilation of humorous, interesting and hard to believe tales from all those years of conducting insurance inspections on unsuspecting, not to speak of an incredible array of businesses. Whoever said, "You can't make this stuff up," had this adventure in mind.Veto This is my latest novel. It's a political murder mystery set against the backdrop of intrigue and intolerance in Chicago, 1960. With the Presidential candidacy at stake, candidate, Cornell Eastman, becomes entangled in deception and assassination. The political maneuvering and treachery could well cost him a chance at the White House. The suspicious death of his closest confidant and aide takes Eastman on an unwanted and devastating journey. I have also been honored to co-author and published Face to Face With Sports Legends by Joe Cullinane, When Pro Football Was Fun by Vic Boccard, and The Mental Side of Hitting by Mike Epstein. Post to FacebookPost to TwitterAdd to LinkedInPost to Google+Add to Google BookmarksPost to StumbleUponSend via Shareaholic MailPrint with PrintFriendlyPost to Pinterest Join the Mailing List Enter your info below to stay connected with Jan and instantly download his short story, "Pastime Summer 1965" Rave Reviews ""If You Come To A Bridge, You've Gone Too Far!" was indeed humorous. Loved the real life experiences." -- Karen FarleyLike Jan on Facebook