The Gourmet Chef

One of the downisdes (and there are many) of having a Bed & Breakfast is the necessity to prepare breakfast for from 1 to 12 people---not easy for someone who can burn water. But I managed

A Martha Stewart Moment

Thanksgiving 1985 at the now-year-old Bed and Breakfast with guests who had become friends. The picture was taken looking from the guest dining area through the kitchen pass-through. And no, I did not prepare the turkey all lby myself.

Time on Film

It is 1984, my first spring in Pence, Wisconsin. I am, here, 50 years old. Behind me is my just-purchased 100-year-old house, and beside me is my best friend Russ Hogan, here 51. We have, at this point, known one another 33 years. So much time caught up in one photo.

One Reason I Left L.A.....

One of the reasons I left L.A. was to get as far away from riots and earthquakes and landslides and smog as I could get. I think my move to northern Wsiconsin achieved that goal.

Befores and Afters

Had I looked before I leapt into buying an abandoned old house in Pence, Wisconsin with dreams of opening a bed and breakfast, and realized the work involved,I undoubtedly would not have done it. But I did, and the two shots above have me standing in the living room looking into the dining room, taken about six months apart. And I did it all with han absolute minimum of outside help. I'm proud of that.

A New World, A New Life

After 18 years in Los Angeles, I made one of my sea-change moves, buying a 9-room abandoned house in Pence, Wisconsin, with the intention of opening a bed and breakfast. That the realtor laughingly referred to it as "the Pence Palace" should have given me a clue, but didn't. I arrived on January 21, 1984 to 3 feet of snow and -19 degree temps, and things sort of started going downhill from there.

Happy New Year!

A new year, huh? Well, okay...I'll pick 1943.