Born in Ellenville, New York I was raised in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania in the East Stroudsburg area.

My mother and father owned and operated a summer resort in Bushkill called "Barrow Lodge."   This included a daycamp supervised by counselors. The idea was to keep the children occupied while the parents enjoyed activities designed for them.

I was fortunate from a young "Pee Wee" camper through my teen years to spend my summers swimming, hiking, fossil hunting, fishing, doing arts and crafts and watching movies as well as piling on a bus with fellow campers for field trips.

After the lunch meal and before swimming sessions, however, all the campers were sent to their rooms to rest for an hour. I befriended a guest who had a shortwave receiver which he used during those rest periods to listen to foreign broadcast stations. I was increasingly fascinated by the world of shortwave listening.

A few summers later, as a daycamp alumnus, I was working as a cook in the hotel kitchen. My roommate had a picture of then teenage movie idol, Haley Mills over his bed. Not to be outdone, I had a picture of a Hallicrafters short wave receiver, the SX-110 over mine. 
 I worked long hours to earn enough money to purchase that receiver. I even sent for and received from Hallicrafters at no charge the receiver manual and a shortwave guide.

Eventually, one of the resort guests who worked in New York City during the week while his family relaxed around the Barrow Lodge pool, took my hard earned cash to the famous radio row. That was the Courtlandt Street area of NYC where he purchased the SX-110 for me.

What a thrill it was unboxing that beauty! I fired it up with a temporary length of hookup wire for an antenna and listened not only to the foreign broadcasts, but to radio amateurs on the various ham bands. I was so impressed that I wanted to adopt amateur radio as my hobby.

Coincidentally, in the new East Stroudsburg High School, on the second floor in the middle of a long hall, there was a glass-enclosed room with letters painted on the door that said "Radio Room." Not only did I discover that the room housed amateur radio station, K3HOD, but the trustee also advised the school's ham club.

With the help of a physics teacher/station trustee Grant "Bart" Bartholomew, W3ZIV [SK], and upper class student, Bill Westbrook, then K3SLP, now W2IEO, I studied and practiced copying code off a paper tape Instructograph machine. I earned my Novice license, KN3WPI in January, 1963 when I was 15.  Bart was also a founding member of the sole local community club, Pocono Amateur Radio Klub (PARK).

So, I had my receiver, but no transmitter. Believing the "dollar per watt" marketing, I bought a Knight T-150 transmitter kit. With no kit building experience whatsoever, I wired the kit, but it didn't work. Another local amateur and now a silent key, Joe De Santo, W3URL, untangled most of the maze and it did work at last. But, it developed parasitics. The FCC noticed and sent me a pink slip. That ended the short, ill-fated run of the Knight transmitter.

I borrowed a Globe transmitter from a ham at a local RCA appliance store until I bought and built a Heathkit DX-60. Once again, the FCC noticed a harmonic and W3URL observed I had reverse-assembled a wafer on the band switch. With that corrected I was on the air and enjoying CW ragchewing and working as many states as I could.

Near the expiration date of my ticket, my dad drove me to Philadelphia where we stayed at the Ben Franklin hotel overnight before I was scheduled to take my General exam. The next morning, the blizzard of 1964 struck in all its fury.

I trodded in snow to the US Customs House, 2nd and Chestnut to take the General test, copying CW with a howling wind outside the FCC field office window and echoing in the uncomfortable Bakelite headphones. I passed it! During the sixteen looooong weeks that I waited for my license, my Novice ticket expired.

Finally the long awaited license arrived--but to my dismay, instead of a dropped "N," it bore the call KA3WPI; a good license, but only authorized by the FCC for American servicemen stationed in Japan! I actually got on the air with it, contacted a ham in Tonawanda, NY, reported that I was in PA, and the person dropped our QSO like a hot potato. I later explained in a letter what had happened, and he wrote, "Nice to work you no matter what the call."

I was a grizzly bear after waiting so long and receiving that call in error. My mother intervened on my behalf, called the FCC and must have been persuasive. A hurried personal telegram from the FCC in Washington D.C., gave me permission at last to operate with the call K3WPI.  To excuse the error, the FCC spokesperson reported the Commission was beginning to computerize the licensing process. I still have a copy of the KA3 license and the telegram.

In 1966 I began my short undergraduate career at East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania (ESU), carrying a draft card with status 2S, student deferment. But with the Vietnam War raging, my mind wandered, and I flunked out and traded my 2S draft status for 1A. I joined the US Air Force for a four year hitch. During that time, incentive licensing temporarily spoiled some of my fun for a few years until I could study for upgrades. After my honorable discharge, I once again headed to college that seemed much easier then and earned my Bachelor's degree.

I also earned my Master's degree during my eighteen and a half year career working at ESU in audio-visual and TV production services until managing our cable-access channel before retiring in 1993.

During my undergraduate completion time at ESU I met my wife Deb while she was a student there and married her after she graduated. Out of dedication (and self-defense) Deb attained her Novice ticket and her call, WB3IWH. She also tested before a grumpy FCC Engineer in Charge in Philly a couple of times before upgrading to Technician when the theory test was the same as for General.

While working in a new career serving people with disabilities at the Burnley Workshop, Snydersville, PA, I studied with a friend, Jim, then N3COY, now K3JM, and we took and passed our Advanced and Extra examinations, including the 20 WPM code requirement just as the VE testing program began. We both applied at about the same time for vanity callsigns. I was granted K3IW, actually my third choice. Shortly after that, Deb, at a VE session was grandfathered to General, and applied for the vanity callsign K3IWH. It was granted, and we now had matching callsigns!

While employed at Burnley, I traveled back and forth to the University of Scranton where I earned a Master's in Rehabilitation Counseling and became a nationally certified Rehabilitation Counselor. I also became a Pennsylvania Licensed Professional Counselor.

In 2008 Deb's Sears management career moved us from the Poconos to southwest Virginia. Virginia Tech (VT) hired me as a special research faculty member to coordinate a multi-county service of the Virginia Assistive Technology System. When the grant money disappeared, I worked part time as a fixed assets coordinator in VT's School of Education. I retired from Virginia Tech in 2016.

Meanwhile Deb retired from Sears after 37 years and then worked part time selling performance tickets in the VT student center. In 2017 she left to join me in retired life.

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