Born Ernest Reed Wale April 12th 1944 Buffalo NY. Father passed away when I was 5 yrs old. Mother remarried and moved to Ft. Lauderdale fl. Where I was raised. Joined USAF in 1967 and served during Viet Nam war as an air traffic controller. After leaving service in 1971 tried several jobs for a few years, but found my love in sales. Sold wholesale jewelry for approximately 40 years. Married Marlene (Molly) 1980 and had a wonderful 35 year marriage until her death in 2015. After losing her I became strongly interested in studying religion of all types and introduced it into much of my poetry.