• 1980-1985: A solid music career seeming more and more untenable, and knowing I couldn’t remain a sail-bum forever, the age of 30 became a pivotal point in time for me. I decided that “just maybe” it was time to grow up and join the establishment world. The idea of becoming a "wage slave" seemed repugnant after living by my own wits for so long. Thus the decision was made to start my own business.
In order to obtain necessary capital, the sailboat which had been my home was sold to actor John Forsythe. Mr. Forsythe, at that time, played the starring role of Blake Carrington on the popular new TV series “Dynasty.” He allowed me to realize a nice profit from the sale. I then took and passed the California State Contractors exam and the real estate exam. I was now poised to start my own construction and real estate development company.
With no formal training, and to my utter amazement, I appeared to
have a real knack for business.
They say timing is everything, I began
my business just as California entered the biggest boom for real estate
and construction in history! Soon the company was tremendously
successful, exceeding my grandest expectations.
For the first time I experienced the joys of being a capitalist! Impecunious in my 20's, by my early 30's I was able to buy a large home in Southern California, expensive cars, travel first class throughout Europe ... the whole nine yards. Being part of the “establishment” wasn’t so bad after all.
• 1985-1987: At the ripe old age of 35, business associates were still referring to me as a whiz-kid. It seemed as if I had it all ... however, I was growing tired of “it all.” I had evolved into the classic money grubbing “yuppie,” the realization of which disturbed me. Materialism just wasn’t what I believed life was all about. So, selling the business and most of my materialistic trappings, I “retired” to a simpler way of life. People who knew me thought I had taken leave of my senses!
I returned to Hawaii in pursuit of a lifestyle more in tune with nature, and it actually did become a time of renewed spiritual and physical revitalization. It was a truly idyllic time in an almost dreamlike place.
Days were spent sailing, surfing and fishing the bountiful Hawaiian waters, or jogging & biking along the beautiful Hawaiian countryside. Nights were spent star gazing the brilliant tropical sky or curled up with a good book. With the luxury of time to study any subject striking my fancy, I enjoyed reading and learning far more than in my younger school-days.
Both mind and body were flourishing in this tropical paradise that was now my home. In 1986 I even ran the hot and humid Honolulu Marathon, finishing the twenty-six miles within a pretty respectable time. Living healthy and carefree in Hawaii, many of my longtime friends were starting to believe that now I truly did have it all. But there began a nagging feeling that life still had more to offer. Soon complacency with this idyllic island lifestyle set in.
• 1987-1990: Realizing that mid-thirties was just too young to live the life of a retired person, but getting a little too “long in the tooth” to continue living as a perpetual adolescent surfer, I decided my life needed a new direction. Seeking a totally different sort of adventure, and being a voracious reader with a renewed interest in learning, I chose the challenge of law school. Now many of my longtime friends were certain I had gone absolutely mad!
Leaving the splendor of island life behind and returning to the mainland, the next several years were spent devoted to the task of learning the law. No longer the “whiz-kid,” returning to school in my mid-thirties, I now felt like an old man surrounded by classmates who were, for the most part, many years younger.
Endless hours sitting in the law library, hunched over stacks of books day after day, quickly began to take its toll. The Hawaiian suntan disappeared, accumulating pounds made my back ache and my energy levels were nearly exhausted. Law school life seemed to be depleting vim and vigor far more rapidly than in my younger counterparts.
Deciding that the body shouldn’t be neglected at the expense of developing the mind, I worked at getting back into shape and soon began competing in various biathlon events around Southern California – running the Los Angeles Marathon just for good measure. Truth be known, it was probably a last ditch effort at trying to ward off old age, since the “big 40" was now roaring at me with lightening speed.
Ultimately, the law school experience proved exceedingly rewarding. I was the first person in my family to ever go to college and by the end of the decade had even earned a Doctor of Laws degree. (Hear that guidance counselor!)