My Story

“I am the light of the world.  Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life,” Jesus quoted in John 8:12

After 50 years of photojournalism, including 12 blessed years of Christian ministry photo assignments, I was exhausted from the constant worldwide travel. I prayed for our Lord to lead me to another ministry in my senior years. 

My prayers were answered when two good friends, Gary Darress, a police officer, and John Hough, a child psychologist, encouraged me to join them as a tertiary in the Anglican Franciscan Order of the Divine compassion.

My Franciscan friends followed Jesus and proclaimed His saving grace as Jesus taught and St. Francis lived, with love and joy in humility and simplicity. They were convinced, as I am, that the Saint’s 13th Century loving, humble witness is desperately needed today.  

In September of 2014, after my postulancy, I was clothed as a novice and joined my brothers and sisters in the Order, vowing to “spread the good news and love of Jesus to all around me.”

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF and PHOTOGRAPHER for my Grossmont High School newspaper, the Foothill Echoes, now I laugh and cringe at my awful President Eisenhower pictures. El Cajon, CA, 1960.

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF and PHOTOGRAPHER for my Grossmont High School newspaper, the Foothill Echoes, now I laugh and cringe at my awful President Eisenhower pictures. El Cajon, CA, 1960.

APPRENTICE PHOTOGRAPHER, I worked summers at Village Studio and Camera Shop behind the sales counter and in the darkroom, La Mesa, CA, 1960.

APPRENTICE PHOTOGRAPHER, I worked summers at Village Studio and Camera Shop behind the sales counter and in the darkroom, La Mesa, CA, 1960.

SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER, hired in my junior year at San Jose State College. I’m the kid at left center in the poster. Note the “state-of-the-art” Mamiyaflex, San Jose, CA, 1965.

SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER, hired in my junior year at San Jose State College. I’m the kid at left center in the poster. Note the “state-of-the-art” Mamiyaflex, San Jose, CA, 1965.

NEWLYWEDS, my college sweetheart, Marilynne and me, married at College Ave. Baptist Church by the Rev. Milo Nixon, her childhood pastor, and 2023, we’re still in love and married, San Diego, CA, 1965.

NEWLYWEDS, my college sweetheart, Marilynne and me, married at College Ave. Baptist Church by the Rev. Milo Nixon, her childhood pastor, and 2023, we’re still in love and married, San Diego, CA, 1965.

DADDY, Baby Stephen, and I share a fatherhood moment, San Jose, CA.1967.

DADDY, Baby Stephen, and I share a fatherhood moment, San Jose, CA.1967.

AP PHOTO EDITOR, i'm working the phone as a very junior editor at the world photo desk, 50 Rockefeller Center, New York City, 1967.

AP PHOTO EDITOR, i'm working the phone as a very junior editor at the world photo desk, 50 Rockefeller Center, New York City, 1967.

AP STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER, I’m waiting, Nikon ready, with four competitors for the legislature to convene, State Capitol, Albany, NY, 1969.

AP STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER, I’m waiting, Nikon ready, with four competitors for the legislature to convene, State Capitol, Albany, NY, 1969.

GEORGE POLK AWARD WINNER, I'm posing with The AP’s poster. My Polk Award preceded the Pulitzer Prize, New York City, 1970.

GEORGE POLK AWARD WINNER, I'm posing with The AP’s poster. My Polk Award preceded the Pulitzer Prize, New York City, 1970.

AFLOAT IN MIAMI, when I was transferred to The AP Miami Bureau, we lived on this houseboat, moored in the Miami River. We loved the manatees that ate the seaweed on the hull.

AFLOAT IN MIAMI, when I was transferred to The AP Miami Bureau, we lived on this houseboat, moored in the Miami River. We loved the manatees that ate the seaweed on the hull.

AP NEWS COVERAGE, Jim Bourdier, AP Photo Editor, and I share a moment with Miss Universe, Kerry Wells, San Juan, Puerto Rico, 1972.

AP NEWS COVERAGE, Jim Bourdier, AP Photo Editor, and I share a moment with Miss Universe, Kerry Wells, San Juan, Puerto Rico, 1972.

STARR PRODUCTIONS, INC., Marilynne does a happy dance outside our Miami office. For a decade after I quit The AP, my photojournalism served corporate America with advertising pictures and audiovisual productions. Miami, 1975-1985.

STARR PRODUCTIONS, INC., Marilynne does a happy dance outside our Miami office. For a decade after I quit The AP, my photojournalism served corporate America with advertising pictures and audiovisual productions. Miami, 1975-1985.

STARR PRODUCTIONS STAFF smiles for a Christmas Party picture with, our son, Stephen, next to me in the front row. With these dedicated employees, annual sales were $900K, but my soul was dark. . .

STARR PRODUCTIONS STAFF smiles for a Christmas Party picture with, our son, Stephen, next to me in the front row. With these dedicated employees, annual sales were $900K, but my soul was dark. . .

AUDIOVISUAL PRODUCER in an Armani suit, I’m about to que the showgirls for a $100k audiovisual spectacle to motivate General Development’s “swamp lot salesmen,” Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, NV, 1982. No light in the darkness here.

AUDIOVISUAL PRODUCER in an Armani suit, I’m about to que the showgirls for a $100k audiovisual spectacle to motivate General Development’s “swamp lot salesmen,” Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, NV, 1982. No light in the darkness here.

PHOTOJOURNALIST in a ballistic vest, with business sold and childhood Christian faith rekindled, I’m covering the U.S. invasion of Panama for Newsweek Magazine, Panama City, 1989.

PHOTOJOURNALIST in a ballistic vest, with business sold and childhood Christian faith rekindled, I’m covering the U.S. invasion of Panama for Newsweek Magazine, Panama City, 1989.

PHOTOJOURNALIST FOR JESUS, Pastors and I take a ferry to photograph a Pentecostal church for Partners International, Vientiane, Laos , 2000.

PHOTOJOURNALIST FOR JESUS, Pastors and I take a ferry to photograph a Pentecostal church for Partners International, Vientiane, Laos , 2000.

ALMOST A TOURIST, reporting a story for Partner’s International about a brave Christian pastor in Muslim-dominated Timbuktu, Mali, he insisted I take a touristy camel ride. The camel driver is arguing for another dollar, 2002.

ALMOST A TOURIST, reporting a story for Partner’s International about a brave Christian pastor in Muslim-dominated Timbuktu, Mali, he insisted I take a touristy camel ride. The camel driver is arguing for another dollar, 2002.

CANCER PATIENT, Marilynne comforts me after my last chemotherapy infusion for Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia, Colorado Springs, CO, 2002.

CANCER PATIENT, Marilynne comforts me after my last chemotherapy infusion for Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia, Colorado Springs, CO, 2002.

THE LIGHT OF CHRIST, this family was overjoyed when Samaritan’s Purse volunteers were rebuilding their home, destroyed by Hurricane Ivan, Grenada, 2005.

THE LIGHT OF CHRIST, this family was overjoyed when Samaritan’s Purse volunteers were rebuilding their home, destroyed by Hurricane Ivan, Grenada, 2005.

BROTHER STEPHEN ANDREW, with Bishop Dominic presiding, Brothers cloth me as a novice in the Franciscan Order of the Divine Compassion, Lake Dallas, TX, 2014.

BROTHER STEPHEN ANDREW, with Bishop Dominic presiding, Brothers cloth me as a novice in the Franciscan Order of the Divine Compassion, Lake Dallas, TX, 2014.

PEACE BE WITH YOU, The Most Rev. Michael Curry, Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, and I embrace during Holy Eucharist at Grace and St. Stephen’s, my church home, Colorado Springs, CO, 2019.

PEACE BE WITH YOU, The Most Rev. Michael Curry, Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, and I embrace during Holy Eucharist at Grace and St. Stephen’s, my church home, Colorado Springs, CO, 2019.