When the college teaching market dried up in the late sixties during the Vietnam war, I abandoned a graduate program at the University of North Carolina and ventured into the newspaper business in Memphis.

I worked at the Commercial Appeal as a reporter and editor from 1969 until June of '77, A couple of months before Elvis died. Later on I delved into that story and co-authored a book on the coverup of Elvis's death and what the medical records really showed.

Since '86 I've been working for various firms in commercial real estate, primarily industrial stuff. although not as exciting as the news business, real estate has turned out to be a better way to feed, clothe and educate a family in partnership with a hard-working spouse. my wife, Sara, spent more than 30 years at the University of Memphis Law School, almost all of them as the director of the law library. She retired in 2000.

Sara and I have three children, all out of college now. Elizabeth, our oldest, is graduating from Presbyterian seminary this month (May 2003) and with her lawyer husband will be moving to Birmingham. They have our only grandchild, Andy, who somehow acquired an ear for language, teaches English as a second language in Mexico. He's also fluent in French.

Molly, our youngest, is working and taking post-graduate classes in computer science here in Memphis.

I'm hanging out my shingle here in Memphis as president of Gates & Cole, a commercial and industrial real estate brokerage and appraisal shop. In truth, I'm trying not to flunk semi-retirement on the real estate side while freeing up time for travel, golf, and another book.