John E Budzinski began writing in college to impress a girlfriend’s father, who was News Editor of the local paper. Many fathers think of their daughter’s boyfriends as jerks, and John wanted to dissuade this line of thought. He wrote some op-ed pieces hoping to show said father that he may be a jerk, but at least he was a smart jerk. The ploy did not work, and his girlfriend’s father still thought of him as a 25-wattbulb in a 100-watt world.

The experience did not deter John. He went on to write a column for a weekly paper in New Hampshire for five years. In addition, his work has appeared in the Boston Globe, the Quincy, MA Patriot Ledger, the Worcester, MA Telegram & Gazette, The Connecticut Post, and the Waterbury, CT Republican American, among others.

A graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, John grew up in the Lordship section of Stratford, Connecticut. An ardent traveler and accomplished photographer, he lives near Iowa City, IA.