Inspiring Start of the Journey

Mike was raised in Fitchburg, Massachusetts and graduated from Boston University in 1965. Mike had an early brush with fame that would shape the rest of his life. He had the opportunity to volunteer for Robert F. Kennedy’s 1968 presidential campaign. He didn’t just help out in his home state of Massachusetts. He also traveled to different states to promote the campaign. Mike was heavily involved in politics and social issues from an early age. The experience was a great learning tool for Mike as it let him learn about the government first hand. Mike took it hard when Kennedy was assassinated because the brutal truth of politics was revealed to him. Robert F. Kennedy was a great man that stood up for great causes. The fact that someone or a group of people conspired to murder him to prevent him from being president confirmed that there were malicious people in the country that did not want peace and prosperity for the citizens of the country.

The Kennedy family thought enough of Mike to invite him to Robert’s funeral. The Requiem Mass was held at St. Patrick’s Cathedral. He accompanied the 21 car funeral train that rode to Arlington National Cemetery. It was a tragic day that gave Mike the courage to become a warrior for justice. He would not stay silent, he would use his words and ideas to bring awareness to the American people.

Journalism and Broadcasting Career

In a Robert Redford film called The Candidate, Mike appeared in a small role. Mike got to know Robert really well and was invited to his home in Utah. While there, Mike was asked to write a column for The Boston Globe. He would end up writing the column from 1973 to 1998, an impressive 24 year run. The column initially got praise for coverage of the political and social upheaval which rolled the Boston when the city instituted the mandatory court-ordered school desegregation plan in the 1970s.

Mike has written over 4000 columns for multiple major news publications including The Boston Herald, New York Daily News and The Boston Globe. He gained prominence after writing columns on the working class of Boston. After he started to earn a reputation as a talented writer, other media outlets like Time Magazine, Esquire, ESPN Magazine, The Daily Beast and The Huffington Post hired him to write articles for them.

Since 1986, Mike has been a regular contributor to the Boston television news magazine, Chronicle on WCVB-TV. Mike has been featured on MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews and NBC's Today Show where he presented news and feature segments. Mike has been featured on many TV news programs including PBS's Charlie Rose, the PBS NewsHour, CBS's 60 Minutes, ESPN, and HBO sports programming.