For generations Rod's ancestors, on both his Father & Mother's side, lived in the foothills of the Appalachians in south eastern Kentucky on the banks of the Cumberland River. They were farmers, school teachers, miners, & (MAYBE?) a moonshiner or two. The family on his father's side boast about their relationship to one of this country's noted pioneer & frontiersmen, Danial Boone. Rod's 5th great uncle.

His parents, looking for work, left the farm and headed for Chicago. Rod was born a few y...