Duane Hanson

My personal life has been repeatedly marked by violence, often accompanied by tremendous pain. Several near death experiences have molded my world view, but not as much as bearing witness to the violent deaths of others. The struggle lies in trying to understand why I have been placed at the wrong place at the wrong time so often. But I remain a person willing to do the painful recovery work necessary to ensure that I am present for my community, my family and myself. I've been writing in one form or another for as long as I can recall. Newspaper stories in Middle School then at two different High Schools as an ever-curious reporter. (Interviews of folks such as famed Curtis Sliwa, of "The Guardian Angels.") A career in broadcasting began as a daily, on-air frosh radio reporter for KBPS AM 1450. At this time, writing the winning entry for, "The Young Peoples Radio Play Contest" offering a sci-fi short story. Years of tap-dancing lessons in economically depressed St. Johns (Thx Mom!) led to working with Donald O'Connor in my first big show (Music Man) back in 1979. The venue was located in downtown Portland, Oregon requiring multiple busses just to reach the gig. Sold out nightly and held over for weeks, this early success led to a lifelong love of performing as well as being approached by my first professional Talent Agent. Despite early sexual abuse (at that point, being shamefully suppressed), my peers elected me Student Body President leading to Senior Class President which led to scholarships paving a way to the University of Oregon. In Eugene, seeds of a broader world view took root writing for a cable news program called, "The Central American Report" honing skills as a progressive community activist. Post graduation, I found myself a better-educated "unemployed" person eventually landing entry level work in a fledgling TV station launched in anticipation of a fourth network. KLSR FOX TV. Six years and a few promotions later, found me writing both commercials and for a weekly half hour program showcasing the homes of the affluent. While writing a monthly article as well as myriad scripts, shooting, and now directing (whenever I could wheedle my way in) got me "headhunted" to build my own station from the ground up...for a competing network. This time, I would put in over 100 hours per week (initially living in back of the 24 hour a day broadcast station) but now promoted as the first 30-year-old GM of a full-power TV station in US history. KROZ WB 36 in Roseburg. Hostile takeover and the death of my mentor forced a personal reinvention back in Portland. Gratefully plucked from the back burner, my Acting career now took off while soon to return as an on-air radio reporter for KVAN AM 1550. (Willie Nelson was a disc jockey here, decades earlier.) Additionally, after starring in 8 shows a week for the next 22 months with, "Tony and Tina's Wedding" incredibly, I had by now amassed, over three hundred TV commercials onto my resume! After being flown to Tokyo to sing at, The Four Seasons, I formed a honkytonk band, "2/3rds Left" which played all-around town. Soon, I was elected (2 Term) President of the freshly merged SAG-AFTRA union. While in LA, simultaneously elected by my fellow Presidents from across the country to lead them as (National) Chair of the Presidents Forum due to my strong unionist beliefs. (Very humbling, as the first non-Californian Actor to earn this honor.) Back home, the AFL-CIO put me through Oregon Labor Candidate School, which led to a switch from writing socially conscious songs to writing books. Critically examining the exploding gig worker industry, found me putting in over 10K rides to bolster research and my first book (Rideshare Confessions) is a welcome expose on Lyft and Uber. This book led to being invited to lecture by the Portland Bureau of Transportation and soon elected as their first ever Chair of the "Drivers Advisory Committee" representing over 10K rideshare and taxi drivers along the West Coast. Shifting focus once again with a move to the End of the Oregon Trail, I've now written a sci-fi fantasy trilogy (Salvo) about a planet devastated by H5N1 just a dozen years in our future. Recently winning the cash prize from Point West Credit Union for their "Share Your Story" writing contest, I am again narrowing focus to complete a pet project. "Living Your Best Fourth Quarter" riffs off of personal wellness successes such as last month's completion of my first 5K race...in 45 years. If you continue to do things the way you've always done them, you will get what you've always gotten. XO, DH