Dan Groat

Dan Groat invites you to learn more about him and his writing on his website www.DanGroat.com You may contact the author by emailing him at dgroatauthor@charter.net Dan Groat lives with his wife, Arlene, and their Russell Terrier (Shorty Jack), Zeke, near St. Louis. He is an avid sports fan and follows Mizzou football and basketball, St. Louis University basketball, the Cardinals, and the Blues. When he’s not writing, he enjoys reading, watching movies, shooting pool, and planting things and watching them grow (including trees, shrubs, flowers, and ideas). He loves his wife. He loves his dog. He loves the outdoors. He loves learning. He loves a meaningful conversation. Dan Groat gathered his formal education from the elementary and secondary public schools of DeSoto, Missouri, Jefferson College, the University of Missouri, and Southeast Missouri State University. His non-formal education was accumulated as a newspaper delivery boy, a grass cutter, a lunch ticket puncher, a factory laborer, a quality control technician, a hod carrier, a pool hall assistant manager, a plumber's helper, a rock band manager, a bartender, a secondary math teacher, a furniture delivery man, a cross country coach, a shipping warehouse order filler, a consultant to an educational software company, a help desk person at an insurance company, a college math teacher, a seed merchandiser, a bank courier, and an author. His informal education was collected in group interactions pursuing interests he chose or interests that were chosen for him. The learning continues, intentional or not... FROM THE AUTHOR: The best way to tell you about me and my writing is to tell you what I believe. I believe in the uniqueness of each person and that, if given the equality of opportunity, the individual is the best architect of his own destiny. I believe that societal problems are best remedied by small groups, preferably starting with the family; that government should protect people without getting in the way of their lives; that Americans are not guaranteed happiness, but the right to pursue it; that society is both a benefit and a burden that requires giving as well as receiving; that acceptance of cultural diversity includes acceptance of a diversity of opinions; that change is not automatically good; that displaying a devotion to country is a virtue; that individual differences can be served without sacrificing excellence. I believe deeply in love, loyalty, individualism, self-reliance, liberty, ambition, hard work, competition without trophies for everyone, and that action as well as words is a form of expression. If you share these beliefs, you might enjoy crawling into the pages of one of my books. Why do I write? I write to escape and be entertained. I write to communicate and connect. I write to better understand the world and the human condition. I write to strengthen my hope. I write to leave something behind. My writing is shaped intentionally and innately by the beliefs I value most, the beauty of love, the requirements of loyalty, the benefits of individualism and self-reliance, the pursuit of liberty and happiness and good health, the struggle for integrity and order and justice, the necessity of ambition and hard work and competition and achievement, the search for growth and virtue and spirituality, the power of reason and cooperation and compromise. I write to strengthen hope... both mine and yours.