WHEN i was FIVE, I’D RUN INTO THE LIVING ROOM WHEN THE COMMERCIALS CAME ON.

I STILL DO.

Advertising has exerted a tug on me my whole life. After college, I decided law school was the most sensible career path. In my third year, I kept seeing these really good ads in bus stops and realized I preferred headlines to fine print.

So I became a copywriter and creative director. In recent years, I’ve held creative leadership positions at Design Center Inc., Publicis Hawkeye, BI Worldwide, Internet Broadcasting, and the late great Kilter.

My work has been honored at the Minneapolis Show and the Oliver Awards. I’ve been a mentor in the MFA in Visual Narrative program at the School of Visual Arts in New York, discussed advertising to youth on KARE 11 news, presented on topics such as brainstorming and creative briefs, and lectured on How To Start A Story at the University of Minnesota.

My writing on the craft has been published in the User Experience blog Boxes and Arrows, the design magazines Emigre and Eye (London), and the anthology Looking Closer 2: Writings on Graphic Design.    

In my spare time, I watch too much ESPN, fail to work out, and write fiction and creative nonfiction. My first book Merit Badges won the AWP Prize for the Novel.  My second book, the memoir Leaving Rollingstone, was published by the Minnesota Historical Society Press. 

I hold an MFA and a JD from the University of Minnesota and a B.A. from Beloit College.

I live with my wife Ellen and greyhound Evie in Saint Paul.