ABOUT

    I had met Steve a week or so before the attack through my good friend Tim Gansrow.  Tim and I worked together in Narcotics when I was an undercover, and were drawn together by our sense of honor and duty.  I felt especially safe when Tim was my backup. We had a pact that we only brought other cops that loved their job into our little circle.  I was building a deck on Tim's house that hot summer of 2001, and he brought Steve in to help out. 

    Steve brought his son Barry with him.  Steve was the kind of man who always looked you in the eye and called you by your name when he spoke to you. His relationship with his son was impressive and heartwarming.  They worked hard for their friend Tim.  When we took breaks to get out of the heat, I found that we were all three in the same class at the Police Academy. I admired Steve's enthusiasm for his work in Emergency Service (ESU), and it made me want to get back to working in a team, chasing the bad guys.  I was a Sergeant in the Traffic Division at the time.  It was the only time I met him, but the impression he made on me was an inspiring one.

    On October 8th, 2004, a hit and run driver left me in the middle of a highway, unconscious, with multiple fractures, 2 of them compound, and my motorcycle a total wreck on the shoulder. I was told that there was a 95% chance I will lose my left leg. After 3 surgeries, almost a month, in the hospital, and extensive rehab (that I continue to this day), I was able to get myself around within a few months.  A great way to multi-task was to go shopping, and with the help of the cart, I could walk around the store for therapy.  That's when I met Charlie.

    Charlie works in his booth at the local supermarket where he prepares meals for people to sample.  He is a very sociable man, and people tend to gather in his corner to talk, and snack on whatever he is making that day.  We became good friends and he was very encouraging as I worked at getting my life back together.  As we talked, I found out he was a songwriter, and he gave me a demo CD of some of his work.  When I told him about the words I wrote, he said that he was certain that he and Lou could put a melody to it.

    I met Lou at Chazz's studio for the first time.  He is a real character, who loves to tell a joke, and is a genius when he sits down at his piano.  He played the melody for me and Chazz, and said that he was still working on the spoken part in the middle.  As I drove around one day, I found that it fit nicely with the National Anthem, but I couldn't seem to make the last few lines fit.  Our next session, I told this to Lou, and he said without hesitation, "Your starting in the wrong place. Start from 'The Rocket's Red Glare", and so it was.

    Chazz is an amazing producer of film and music, songwriter, musician, stunt man, screenwriter....and so much more, full of great ideas.......... more > >