I've been an amateur astronomer most of my life, starting when my mother bought me a small telescope when I was 12 years old (55 years ago now). I grew up in Southern California where the weather was seeming always good, and did a lot of planetary observing and imaging, and deep sky observing.
After a 4 year hitch in the USAF, I returned home in 1970 and joined with the newly started Ventura County Astronomical Society, eventually serving in various positions including secretary, VP, and President. Chet Bart, Charles Townsend, and I got the VCAS Astro Imaging Conference started, incorporated the club, and watched it grow. During this time I submitted a few articles on film astroimaging to Astronomy, which were published.
I moved to the Los Angeles area and worked for Celestron as their customer service manager from 1976 through the end of 1978. It was a great job and I loved the work - plus Celestron was a very well run company - but I ended up moving on for personal reasons and the commute to and from my new home in Riverside County was getting to be brutal.
In 1988 I moved my family to the Denver, Colorado area and have lived here since that time. The weather patterns are not nearly as favorable as they were in California, so I don't get to do as much observing as I did previously, however my interest has always remained strong. For the last 15 years I've managed to take 'observing' vacations back in California at my in-law's home near Yosemite NP and relish these 7 to 10 day getaways under dark, clear skies.