Richard Patrick O’Donnell was born in Detroit, Michigan in 1954. He began maintaining a journal of poetry, prose, and profanity as a sophomore in high school in 1970. He faithfully captured and chronicled the key moments of his life for eleven years, and then, upon the death of his father, inexplicably quit his journaling.

Nine years later, on the twentieth anniversary of his first journal, he put pen to paper once again and has continued writing up to the present.

His life is centered around his wife, Alice, his three adult children, his music and, yes, his journal.