Dean Yoder:  

it has been one hell of an interesting life. Here is as condensed a version as I can muster. As some of you may already know,I was not from California. I came from Hawaii, then my family moved to Michigan where I was raised in the Mennonite church until my parents divorced at age 11. We then moved to Miami, Florida where we lived until I was 13 years old. We then moved to Los Gatos where I attened Leigh High age 14 as a freshman. My sister Tammy was at Union. We lived in Los Gatos for only one year at 202 Blossom Villa Way just at the foot of Blossom Hill. We then moved back to Florida. To be exact it was Tallahassee in Northern Florida. Home of collages, rednecks and the KKK. My mother studied at Florida A&M for a year. I attended my sophomore year at Leon High School in Tallahassee. That was an amazing school. They were first in the state in English, Math, Science, Music. These people to education very seriously to say the least. After that year, we moved back to California where I re-enrolled at at Leigh High School. If you want all the reasons for this tamutuous geographic constant relocation, I will tell you privately. It is quite a story in it self. I came out to my folks as gay at this time and I was quickly asked to leave my family's home. I was 16. I found myself in Cupertino and commuted to Leigh daily as well as held down a full time job as an Orderly at a nursing home to pay rent and eat. I told no one of my struggles and quietly continued to attend Leigh High. While going to school as a junior, I was studying to become a Licensed Psychiatric Technician candidate. My Senior year, as many of you know, I took Mike McNiel to my senior prom. Upon graduation from Leigh, I enrolled full time to earn my stateboard Licensed Psch Technician degree. I graduated and passed my state boards two years later. Meanwhile, I worked part time in both San Jose and San Francisco as a pianist ind cabaret singer to make ends meet while finishing my collage studies. Mike and I (my prom date) bought a little bungalow house in Downtown San Jose on Third Street when I was 18. We married in a non binding ceremony and lived together for a total of 8 years. We did finally go our separate ways. Mike later died of AIDS. It was a real low in my life. I wanted to capture my lost youth as I was made to be so responsible so young. I packed my rucksack, bought a series of Lonely Plant Guide books and plotted a three year trip around the world. I traveled on foot, boat, truck, cargo plane, bus, horse, donkey and tuc tuc. Two years traveling lead me from Mexico scouring all of Central America, including its wars and conflicts in Nicaragua, and El Salvador. I studied Spanish at a famous language school in Antigua Guatamala. Thanks to Señora Medlock I was an "A"student. I then tracked through the Darian Gap, and into Colombia. I boated down the Amazon, stayed with indiginous Indians for quite a few months and then traveled to the Galapagos where I studied evolution and biology at the Darwin station. I then tracked through Chilie,Bolivia,Agentina arriving in the most southern part of my trip Tierra Del Fuego. I then turned north and went back to Brazil for several months. I had been gone just about two years at this point and I was travel weary. I returned to the states where I went to sell 25 Cuzquena painting I had purchased in Cuzco, Peru. I Came to New York City to sell my paintings in the, then hot art market through a New York auction house that will remain nameless. The auction house declared bankruptcy the...Expand for more