I entered nursing in 1950 after I graduated from high school. In 1954 I passed my registered nurse certification and worked as a staff nurse in Rochester, New York and later as a staff nurse and then a head nurse at Bellevue Hospital in New York City. During this time I also attended the University of Rochester, and New York University in the evening and obtained my B.S. degree in Nursing from New York University in 1958. In both institutions, I provided nursing care to medical and surgical patients.

In 1958 I moved to San Francisco where I initially worked as a staff nurse at the Veterans Hospital; and later as a public health nurse at the Oakland health Department and the San Francisco Health Department. At that time males were rare in public health nursing and I was the first male in public health nursing in California. These experiences involved providing nursing care and education to individuals, families, and groups on preventing illnesses and promoting health and wellness. I worked with all age groups from newborn babies to the elderly in their homes, with children in the well child centers, with school age children in schools, and with the adult population in industry.

In 1961 I was offered a scholarship to attend the graduate program in public health nursing at the U. of California. The emphasis of this program was on preventing illnesses and promoting health and wellness using a holistic approach with individuals, families, communities and organizations. My advisor, Ann Hill, now deceased, was one of the most inspiring individuals I have ever met. She was extremely knowledgeable and very caring and always had time to listen to and try to solve everyone’s problems. She was known and loved throughout California. She also had a remarkable way of working with students. When I had conferences with her she made me feel that she saw me performing at a much higher level than I saw myself performing. Consequently, I worked very hard to come up closer to the level she saw me performing. Over time, I no longer needed that motivation and learning became exciting for the first time in my life.

After completing my master’s degree I was offered a position on faculty at the University of California. Males in public health nursing were still rare and I was the first male teaching public health nursing in the United States. I taught public health nursing and later chaired the undergraduate program in public health nursing. My first publishing was accomplished during this time. Classes focused on preventing diseases and promoting wellness in individuals, groups, communities and organizations with less emphasis on treating illnesses.

In 1965 faculty were expected to have doctorates at the more established Universities such as the U. of California if they wished to progress in academia so I entered the masters and doctoral programs at Johns Hopkins University, School of Public Health in Baltimore, Maryland. Over the next four years I learned additional public health and mental health concepts and theories and carried out original research on predicting adolescent behavior. Like my previous education there was a major emphasis on preventing mental and physical diseases and promoting wellness with individuals, families, communities and organizations and less emphasis on sickness. In 1966 I obtained my second masters and in 1969 I obtained my doctoral degree.

My advisor at Johns Hopkins was another inspirational leader in my education. Dr. Paul Lemkau, an internationally renown psychiatrist who is now deceased, was known as the Father of Mental Health in Public Health because of his writing and research. Despite his reputation as an international leader he was always available to students and was also a very caring individual with a wonderful family. Because I was single without family in Maryland I was often invited to celebrate holidays and other occasions with his family if I were in town.

After obtaining my doctorate I taught community mental health to graduate nursing students at Duke University in North Carolina. During this time I broadened my interested in holistic practice and alternative health through the work of Edgar Cayce. I also strengthened my spiritual practices by participating in a Search for God group and attended selected courses in the divinity school at Duke. .

In1971 I became a Professor of Nursing at Old Dominion University in Virginia. At that time there were very few nurses with doctorates in the United States so I received job offers almost daily. However, I remained in this position for almost 30 years because of the opportunity to help develop new programs and teach a wide range of courses. Over the years I taught graduate and undergraduate public health nursing courses, an elective on homelessness internationally, concepts of nursing, long term patient care; therapeutic touch (studied at New York University); stress and stress management; meditation as a stress reduction technique and others. All classes integrated a holistic perspective when possible. I also worked with students in their clinical experiences in public health nursing; long term care, and preparation for hospital based nursing as a registered nurse.

During these years I also served in a variety of administrative positions such as Chair of the nursing program, Coordinator for the third or forth year of the undergraduate nursing program, Graduate Program Director, and Director of the Old Dominion University Nursing Center funded by one of my grants. .

I also lectured on stress and stress management, homelessness, wellness and other topics for the public, wrote articles and books, served on most departmental committees and many University committees, obtained grants and gave research papers around the United States and Europe. In addition, I served on several local, state and national committees in leadership positions. I broadened my alternative health experience by functioning as Associate Editor of Alternative Health Practitioner for several years and also by participating in the development of the Encyclopedia of Alternative Health Practitioners.

One of the highlights of my career was my work with the homeless during these years. I was a member of two boards that served the homeless population, implemented clinical experiences for students with the homeless and provided direct nursing care with local homeless populations. I was also funded for and administered an $800,000 grant to provide primary health care for a local homeless and low-income population in a Nursing Center and advocated for them in the community. I visited homeless programs through central Europe and met several practitioners and educators working with the homeless. These experiences led to my book titled Homelessness in the United States, Europe, and Russia.

I also was active with the Homeless Caucus of the American Public Health Association and served as Chair for a few years among several other leadership positions. I also chaired or served as a member of several public health nursing section committees of this organization. Because of my teaching, research, service, writing, and national involvement I was awarded the Distinguished Career in Public Health Award by my peer group in the American Public Health Association in 1999.

During several of my summer vacations from the University I served as a volunteer camp nurse for the Edgar Cayce children’s camp in Western Virginia. During these experiences I expanded my knowledge and practice in the use of the Edgar Cayce holistic alternative treatments both with clients and in my own life.

Since retirement I have continued in leadership positions with the homeless populations and organizations and with nursing and public health organizations. I have also continued writing and lecturing for students and the public and three years ago was invited to teach public health nursing at the University of Applied Sciences in Frankfurt, Germany. My continued commitment to being of service to others is an important part of my holistic approach to healthy aging and the results demonstrated in my life show the value of holism.