I was born Adolphus Ambrose Ward February 22, 1935, in Colt, Arkansas the son of Reverend McCarty and Bessie (Hightower) Ward. Prior to my birth Dad had gone to Milwaukee, Wisconsin to arrange the family's relocation there. In May of 1935 the family, including my brother, born November 1933, began its new life in Milwaukee.
One of the scenes that have stayed with me from early childhood is that of a basement apartment, two rooms, I believe. It was a dank, shadowy place where the rats and roaches constantly challenged Mother and Dad's resolve to keep them out. Bath and washing water was heated on a gas cooking stove or on a small cast iron stove used for heat in the winter. We survived there until dad was able to get a better job. World War II brought the good life: a lower flat with four rooms and a full bath. Mother bought a washing machine. The clothes still dried on clotheslines in the yard on the side of the duplex. Dad bought a used car. We needed it all. I would soon have four more siblings.
Another scene that will always be a part of my thoughts is being ill to the point of death between the ages of seven and ten. The source of the problem was my kidneys. I developed an infection in both kidneys to the point where they ceased to function. I was diagnosed as having poly nephritis. There was a period when I ballooned to two or more times my normal size. Unable to urinate properly my body simply filled with water. To prevent urine poisoning I had to be catheterized. In the beginning the tube was fed through my urinary tract to the bladder. My penal canal became too sensitive and filled with scar tissue so the tube had to be inserted through the stomach wall directly into my bladder. Mother and Dad never gave up hope or prayer. My Mother sat up many nights with me. Dad would put me on his shoulders and carry me up flights of steps to a doctor's office, usually on the second or third floor. Upon seeing me many doctors shock their heads. Finally mother found a doctor who she thought could help me. He agreed to take me on as an experimental patient. His name was Dr. Francis Murphy. During the many months of experimentation I twice entered the realm of death. I didn't see any bright lights just dark and unawareness. I remember regaining consciousness once to see Mother and Dad and Rev. Coggs, the pastor of our church, standing at the foot of my hospital bed praying what they thought was the last prayer. I opened my eyes and instinctively knew why they were there and said to myself, "I don't know why y'all standing there, I ain't gonna die." With that I slipped back into darkness. Mother told me I would often talk about a Little Man who came to see me. The Little Man would read to me and play games. She never saw him even though I would tell her he had just left as she came in. None of the nurses or hospital staff ever saw him come or go. I have no recall of the Little Man. I outlived my crisis and remain in good physical and mental health to this day.
For spending money as a young boy I ran errands, I shined shoes on the street, delivered the morning paper, collected rags, paper, and scrap metal and sold them to the junk shops. . As a teenager I washed cars and worked as a clerk in a fish market.
I liked school to about the fifth grade. To this day I am not sure why school turned out to be a bad place for me—perhaps it had something to do with my illness. After the sixth grade I skipped school a lot. I finally dropped out in the tenth grade. At eighteen I went into the Marine Corps. I wanted to go before that but my parents would not sign. It turned out that the Korean War ended shortly after my enlistment. I was glad. I didn't really want to kill anyone and I sure didn't want to die. By the time I was twenty I was a sergeant and chief of an artillery section. I had also completed the GED. For a while I considered remaining in the Corps but decided against it. I got out, started a family, continued my education through a Master’s Degree in Educational Administration and Supervision with a focus in Adult Education, and progressed in management positions.
I got involved in community-theater in 1969 as an actor. That stimulated an already growing interest in writing. After being twice passed over for an important career promotion I decided I would write and act for the rest of my life. In 1984 I resigned my management position and began my new careers. While I developed the skills required to be a professional writer and actor I worked part-time jobs in order to maintain a minimal standard of living. My experience and education allowed me to work as a consultant in Human Resource Development.
I have been married twice and twice divorced. I have five grown children, all from my first wife, and seventeen grand children. That number is constantly growing.
For four years I held a fulltime teaching position, as Senior Lecturer, in the Theatre Department at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee. I resigned and relocated to Reseda, California in November of 2001. My goal was and is to continue writing novels and to work in television and film as an actor and writer.
