Mike''s favorite story about me--his older brother, David--is that when we were kids, I would get exasperated with him and I would say, "Mike, stop being such a smart aleck. What are you going to do when you grow up? You can''t be a professional smart aleck!" Then, years later, he started getting paid for his satirical and irreverent articles and speeches, which did, in fact, make him a "professional smart aleck," as he enjoyed reminding me. So, okay, Mike always was a bit of a smart aleck. You could say that he was always a free speech advocate, even before he had ever heard of the Bill of Rights ! This was Mike''s lifelong character trait, and there were other recurrent ones, such as his intelligence, his wit, and his ability to build and maintain relationships. But there were also some major transformations in his life. In fact, this book is primarily the story of a man transformed. Academically, from a D student to an A student Spiritually, from an atheist to a Christian Politically, from liberal to conservative Morally, from pro-abortion to anti-abortion Socially, from private citizen to public figure In the first section of this book, "Learning," we will follow Mike''s life journey and see how and why these transformations occurred. The second section, "Teaching," is about Mike''s passion for helping others and for sharing what he learned--not just book learning but also life experiences.

The third section, "Reflecting," as the name implies, shifts the focus to Mike''s reflections on his life and on some of the lives lost. The last section, "Extra Credit," is a miscellany for further reading and insight. This book is based primarily on my favorite columns Mike wrote about his life. Since he never finished writing his life''s story, I would like to start off with some background, and as we go along, I will try to piece it all together into what I hope will be a fitting tribute. -------------------------------- For our first Christmas without our parents (2019), Mike and I wanted to take a trip down memory lane to the old neighborhood where we grew up, Clear Lake City , a suburb of Houston located next to NASA ''s Johnson Space Center, where our parents worked. (Mike and I were born in Mississippi and briefly lived in New Orleans and Fort Worth before settling in Houston in 1969, when Mike was four years old.) We drove and walked around and saw many familiar sights, such as our old house, our old playground, and our old ballfield. But while many things had remained the same, much had changed.

For example, the single-screen movie theater--where we had seen Patton , Planet of the Apes , 2001: A Space Odyssey , and countless other movies--had been torn down and replaced with a convenience store. We attended the Christmas service at our old church--University Baptist Church --where we saw some old family friends and chatted briefly with the (relatively) young man running the audio/video, the son of another boy who had lived on our street in the seventies. Back then, we were just kids, mind you, and even though we went to church, little did we know what the Lord was raising us up to do. By 1970s standards, we enjoyed a basic middle-class lifestyle. We were not rich, but that did not seem to bother us. Our annual vacation was a trip to see our grandparents on my mother''s side in Gulfport , Mississippi, a six-hour drive on the new Interstate I-10. Mike and I enjoyed many wonderful experiences there and had happy memories of visits with friends and family. Twice we managed to save enough money to drive all the way to Los Angeles to see my dad''s mother and stepfather.

Unlike the trip to Gulfport , from which I recall endless boring hours of driving through swampland, the drive to LA was a great adventure through the expansive American Southwest with memorable stops, such as Carlsbad Caverns, White Sands, the Painted Desert, and most notably, the Grand Canyon, along the way. We all especially loved the Grand Canyon, but it made a huge impression on Mike. In fact, he made several return visits as an adult, and his Facebook profile picture was often a photo of him at that amazing natural wonder. Later, references to the American Southwest would keep popping up in his writings. Here are some examples: " There is a real understated beauty throughout the plains of northern New Mexico. She''s like that girl in home room that you never really noticed until your senior year." "Summer road trip fever resumes tomorrow. Friday road trip to Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Saturday to Albuquerque, NM. Sunday, Painted Desert, Arizona. Monday, Four Corners, Utah. Tuesday, back speaking at Summit in Colorado." "Another day older and another day closer to retirement in Arizona." I could write at great length about these road trips, but, simply put, these journeys were very meaningful to us and showed us that there are parts of America that are imperfect, flawed, and ugly--but also that we still live in a great and beautiful nation that is worth loving and fighting for. The desire to fight for a better America drove Mike for the rest of his life. As I write this, I am sorely missing Mike and am thinking about how I would love to reminisce with him again and how I wish he were writing this book instead of me, especially as he always had a great memory for details.

When we lost him, we also lost so many stories. I feel compelled to preserve the stories that he did leave behind. When Mike passed in 2020, I knew that I wanted to publish a book that would honor him, preserve his memory, and pass along his wisdom and unique insights. I also wanted to make readers laugh, since humor was such an important part of Mike''s life. He was always laughing and making others smile or laugh, too. Initially, I thought I would choose Mike''s best columns--no easy task, since he wrote about 1,700 of them during his career! This would be his "Greatest Hits," so to speak. And yes, that would have made a good read and worthy tribute. But I quickly realized that most of my favorites were autobiographical in nature--seemingly random stories about his friends, family, and life experiences, especially from his "Life and How to Live It" series--and that arranging those in chronological order could create a nearly complete biography.

Almost an autobiography, if you will. I have added my commentary in order to fill in the gaps, add context, and share my insights. For the sake of clarity, my comments and observations will be in italics like this, while Mike''s words and those of other contributors will not. It is my hope that you will enjoy this book and gain a deeper understanding and appreciation of who he was and why he was loved and followed by so many people.