Burk Ashford was raised in a small town of two-thousand plus people in the plains of eastern Colorado. His father was a second generation Chevrolet/Buick dealer. He completed the normal course of primary, secondary and high school education there and moved on to Colorado State College in Greeley, Colorado for enlightenment furtherance.
At a very early age he discovered that he could make people laugh and began learning the art of telling jokes. Ribaldry became his favorite form of humor. This avenue may have been influenced by the fact that his father instantly subscribed to 'PLAYBOY' magazine the moment it was introduced. Of course the little dickens (me) examined the monthly issues when Dad was at work and Mom was out and about and diligently read the jokes of the month on the back of the monthly 'Bunny' center-fold page and the cartoons and 'Playboy After Hours' satire. Jokes were told everywhere. At the adult dinner parties, at the dealership, barbershop, pool hall (where he wasn't supposed to be), after school, after church, after practice and here, there and everywhere.
As a developing young man he loved sports and played football, basketball, track and baseball. Little League, Babe Ruth, High School and American Legion Baseball. He was regularly one of the class officers, a cast member in school plays, a feature in the annual school talent shows, editor of the high school Annual staff and newspaper and much more. He became a member of the Methodist Church and was often an usher, passed the collection plate and for a while was a substitute Sunday School Teacher for the little ones.
He loved scouting, camping, farming, hunting and anything to do with the outdoors. A Cub Scout, Boy Scout, Explorer Scout and an Eagle Scout. A ranger at Ben Delator Scout Ranch and elected to the Order of the Arrow and the troop Chaplin. He danced the 'Eagle Dance' and participated with the Koshare Indians. He has been an assistant Scout Master and Scout Master.
In college he participated in intramural sports. He was too short, too small and too slow for the Varsity teams but earned a letter on the swim team. He was also a Red Cross certified lifeguard.
He is divorced. It was a short marriage. It only lasted twenty-five years. With his then-wife, they raised three beautiful daughters who are grown, gone and living honest productive lives. He coached girls soccer and softball and learned - girls are different. When they strike out they cry. Go figure.
The author's abilities and work history is diverse and abundant. He is a very well-rounded man who is as comfortable in blue jeans as well as a suit and tie or even a tux. He likes to attend at least one opera a year. His parents took him to an opera in Central City at about age fifteen. 'Carmen.' Beautiful women with great busts and cleavage in elegant costuming caught his eye and left a lasting impression.
He can build a house, fix a car, repair almost anything, sew on a button, drive anything and everything from Go-carts, trucks, race car [Stocker, D-altered, Quarter midgets, midgets and even Demolition Derby], boats and water-skiing, heavy equipment, airplanes and a tank.
His work history and experiences are equally as varied and diverse as well.
He worked in his grandfather's/father dealership starting with sweeping floors to auto repair, running the parts counter, selling cars and/or trucks and book-keeping.
He dropped a 364 cubic inch Buick V-8 engine into a Fifty-Five Chevy coupe, spruced up the interior and added custom paint and a bit of chrome on the engine. Of course it was a stick shift on the floor.
Getting through college he did farm work, general labor, gas station work, lifeguard, bank teller, department store clerk and whatever else that was available. He rode a bull in a rodeo.
As to his vocation history and life pursuits, please note the following;
Often times in the fall he was a professional outfitter and guide hunting deer, bear and elk. His clients came from an ad in Field and Stream. He was an assistant buyer in men's suits for a major up-scale department store. Manager for a small loan finance company. Ran installment loan operations for a bank. Rough neck on drilling rigs. Real estate agent. Account executive for a private investment company. Produced 150 episodes of a children's TV program in Hawaii called 'Chuckleberry's Cartoon Corner'. Volunteer fireman and deputy and sometimes an on-call assistant game warden. Heavy equipment operator. First Aid Certified Red Cross card holder. Built small block high performance Chevrolet engines. Journeyman plumber/inspector. Marksman. Industrial Landscape Contractor. Excavated earth on a purchased lot and poured a concrete crawl space foundation and moved a two-thousand square foot house onto it and renovated it. Restored a 100(+) year old 60'x60' stone and redwood barn. Built and remodeled houses (his own and others). Remodeling contractor. He created 'California Sun' and developed and distributed sun-care products. Until a few years ago he still played MSBL. Men's-Senior-Baseball-League. (This isn't softball). He still has his bag of the 'Tools of Ignorance'. One never knows.
He finds cooking to be therapeutic. His specialty is gourmet New York Style cheesecake. If you write to him and request his recipe he will gladly send it to you. He is an amateur vintner. His cherry and plum wines are as good or better than anything Paul Masson has in the stores.
He has witnessed a 'Pele' explosion up-close and personal. Spectacular. He has swum in a tropical ocean, surfed it and stood tall on the top of a mountain above timberline high enough to be able to see the great plains from afar. He has done much more and there is yet more to do.
He has now written a book(s).d