I don't know exactly how I came up with this idea but it involved Laura Linney, one of my favorite actresses. Perhaps it was an article about her that I read, or an interview I heard, but she talked about her role as Abigail Adams in the HBO miniseries "John Adams" and how reading about our founding fathers was learning about American History. Maybe she said something about reading biographies on all the presidents or maybe she didn't, but I decided that's what I would do. I would read a biography on each president, in order, so I could get a history lesson on America.  The idea came at a perfect time. I had received my MFA in creative writing from the University of Tampa and my historical novel, "Bee King", about the first person diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease in the United States, was published. I had put all of me into that book and into achieving my MFA that I needed a writing break. One richly deserved after writing novels for over thirty years, studying the craft of wri......

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