Writer's Statement

I guess I have been collecting for my entire life. I remember as a little boy filling my pockets with various treasures. None of them were alive, like the usual frogs or such that boys collect, but rather small bits and sparkly pieces of unusual things that caught my fancy.  

Over the last 30 years, I created a museum which consists of over one hundred collections of tens of thousands of small things: miniatures, curiosities, discoverings, oddities, artifacts, trinkets, etc.

The collection of collections resided in the guest room of Gregory and my home and became a folk art piece which has an energy of its own that causes people to wonder out loud, tell stories, share experiences, reminisce, and more. 

As of May 2011, the collections became a permanent exhibit at Chicago Children’s Museum on Navy Pier called Michael's Museum: A Curious Collection of Tiny Treasures.   http://www.michaelsmuseum.org

Over the last ten plus years, I have been collecting my thoughts, ideas, and experiences by writing voraciously. If I don’t write for one to two or three hours each day, I feel like part of me is missing. I have discovered that I have things to say, experiences that I want to document, quotes that I want to discuss and share with others.

I have fantasized about putting all these writings into a book which I will call “The Museum of Michael’s Mind.” It will be a combination of my love of writing and the passion behind my love of collecting.

For isn’t life a collection of experiences, thoughts, memories, fantasies, etc; real or imagined? How lonely it would be if l could not share with you some of these collections of my mind.