Our Story

Books and hotdogs.

By 2022, I had written 33 novels, worked in ICUs, ran medical simulation labs, and oversaw the design and construction of a middle school. At 47, I found myself at a crossroads.

Initially, it was a joke between my wife and me: “Hotdogs in the Pacific Northwest are terrible. I should open a hotdog cart and show everyone what a Chicago-style hotdog really is.”

But then, one day, it ceased to be a joke. I wanted to do it. I had to. People love hotdogs. I love hotdogs. But not just any hotdogs—Vienna all-beef hotdogs, the original, manufactured in Chicago since 1893. With black sesame seed buns and bright green relish. I thought, why not combine the thing I missed most about Chicago with selling books?

Thus, “My Chicago Childhood: Hotdogs & Other Tales” was born.