Axe is no saint and burns his candle at both ends with a flame thrower in the center. After bouncing from one guardrail to the other in numerous facets of life, even his .44 magnum can't protect him from the grim reaper as he faces open heart surgery at age thirty-four. When pending demise slams his brakes, this white collar rock star is forced to shake the Etch-a-Sketch of his life. He survives humble and weak, but still alive.
As his health slowly returns, he captures observations, thoughts, and memories that help him to better understand the world and people around him. More important are the internal lessons he learns as he creates an improved version of himself who's healthier and happier, but still a fiend for excitement. The whiskey in Axe's veins is replaced with adrenaline, and pure passions like heavy metal, crunching guitars, and roaring motorcycles are fully realized in his celebration of freedom and life. "Bouncing off Guardrails" is a true, inspirational memoir that intelligently and graphically illustrates a drastic transition from a self-destructive underdog to a man gripping every experience by the throat and cherishing it.
"I guess the distinctiveness in my story lies not within one particular trait, but a combination of multiple extreme experiences and characteristics. The appeal may really be the fact that it's wild enough to be fiction, but so genuine and honest that it has to be true." --Axe
Axe was born in Florida, but his parents raised him in a small town in northern Iowa. After earning his engineering degree from ISU, Axe moved to Texas and worked on military projects for several years. Eventually he moved back to Florida to open his chopper shop, Y Chrome Customs.