G. A. Schindler was born in 1946 in a suburb of Detroit, Michigan, where he grew up with three brothers and a sister. His father, a factory worker, sang in the Detroit Rackham Choi...view moreG. A. Schindler was born in 1946 in a suburb of Detroit, Michigan, where he grew up with three brothers and a sister. His father, a factory worker, sang in the Detroit Rackham Choir and was an avid gardener. His mother, (93 and doing fine thank you), was active in civic affairs. He received a degree in education with an English major from Eastern Michigan University. Some time spent teaching convinced him that it wasn't his calling, so he traveled to San Francisco. During three years in the bay area, he met and married his wife. They celebrated their fortieth anniversary in March of 2014. In the mid-seventies, the couple moved to New York City, nearer her family, and three years later they traveled to Michigan to settle down near Detroit where they live today.Mr. Schindler was a cab driver, apartment building manager, and locksmith in California and New York, then a social services worker seventeen years in Detroit. He went on to start a cab company from which he retired in 2012. He's quite proud to describe himself as "low man on the totem pole" in his family, where he has a "lowly" B. A., his wife an M. A., and their only child a recently earned Ph.D.Hybridizing daylilies and writing have been his main hobbies. He inherited a love of gardening from his father, "but dad was far more diverse. I keep it simple and specialize. Each year I plant several hundred seeds and once-in-a-while find a flower worth introducing."He describes himself as "always a poet since high school, but not particularly prolific". He studied journalism in college and wrote articles and a column in the EMU school paper. He turned to songwriting in the eighties. Though satisfied that he authored some fine lyrics, he found no avenue for publication.Since he retired, he's joined some writing groups and found more time and energy to spend on writing. Summer in the garden, winter at the computer and occasional travel, make him wonder how he ever found time for work.view less