MIKE'S RAP SHEET

I was born in a log cabin on Haven Avenue on the island of Manhattan on April 25, 1935,the first child of Charles R. and Jane M. Welch. After my sister was born, almost three years later, my folks decided to give up this propagation business, and it was soon decided to abandon the city for the wilds of Bergen County, New Jersey. I grew up in Fair Lawn, New Jersey, definitely a child of the apathetic 50's. After graduating from high school, I attended Colgate University and Columbia Law School. I was admitted to the New Jersey Bar in 1960(one of the few bars I was able to pass at that stage of my life!), after which I practiced law in New Jersey for twelve years. I left private practice and joined the Law Department of The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey in New York City in 1972. I remained with the Port Authority until I retired in 1990.

Between the time I graduated from law school until my retirement, I managed, among other accomplishments, to acquire a wife and two daughters, but I've been divorced now for over twenty years. My daughters were duly raised (mostly by their mother) and educated(mostly by me), and they are both now living in the South, one in South Carolina and the other in Georgia (beats me how all us "Yankees" ended up in rebeldom!) Having decided long ago that I wanted to live in Ormond Beach when I retired, I purchased a home here in 1985, and thereafter spent about 5 weeks here every year while I was still working in New York. My sister, Lin, had moved to Florida several years before, both of us having fallen in love with this state when our retired parents were alive and lived here(she has lived in Gainsville and Kendall(a Miami suburb), but now lives in Port St. Lucie where she has finally found the right place for her). Having thus provided for my retirement years, when I left New Jersey for good, the day after I retired, I had only my clothes, my stereo and my dog(who, sadly, went to puppy heaven just beforet Christmas, 1997) and, when I opened the door to my home in Florida, there was a fully-furnished house, ready to live in.

In addition to a lot of reading and writing, I'm out on the tennis court about 5 days every week, an activity which helps to fight off the usual effects of aging and keeps me in reasonably good shape. I listen to a lot of music(all kinds), and spend a fair amount of time online with my computer. I may have shrunk a bit from my 5'9" height, but continue to maintain my weight at about 160. It is now over 17 years since I abandoned my drinking buddies forever, but I still smoke(hey everybody's got to have some kind of vice!). I'm still single and, while I'm not uncomfortable living alone, I wouldn't mind finding someone to share life with. However, I have to admit that I really haven't looked too hard!

The background music on this page was provided by our exalted director, my dear friend, Les Gorven, whose work, in my not-so-humble opinion, deserves more prominence at the Midi Studio than he chooses to accord it.