Jerry grew up in a Coast Guard family who moved quite a bit, with the result that he attended eight different public schools. These circumstances provided him with some unusual experiences and insights into the many subcultures that exist in the northern and midwestern states. Experiences in the South began for him when he attended Centre College of Kentucky.

During that time, he worked as a deckhand on an ocean-going dredge boat off the Texas coast for two summers. This work provided him with additional cultural interactions with Hispanics and people from “Louisiana bayou country.” Upon graduating from Centre, he pursued an M. S. degree in school psychology at Miami University of Ohio. Within days of graduating from Miami, he was experiencing basic training in the Army. He went on to complete Advanced Infantry Training and Infantry Officers Candidate School to become commissioned as a second lieutenant. Reluctant Lieutenant: From Basic to OCS in the Sixties is his memoir of that experience. Upon being commissioned, he was assigned to the JFK Special Warfare Center, Ft. Bragg, N. C. The Army gave Jerry additional opportunities to work with many individuals from diverse backgrounds and nationalities. When he completed his military obligation, he worked for two years in St. Petersburg, Florida, as the only school psychologist in seven inner city schools which were being integrated for the first time. His many experiences with diverse cultures served him well during that stressful time. From there, Jerry enrolled in the University of Tennessee’s doctoral program in school psychology. Two years later he received his Ph. D. degree and began working for the Little Tennessee Valley Educational Cooperative (LTVEC), assisting area school systems to develop their school psychology programs. In 1976 he became the executive director of LTVEC and held that position until 2014. During Jerry’s tenure at LTVEC, innovative programs for children were developed that received regional and national acclaim. One of those programs became the focus of the book Rosa Kennedy and he wrote, A School for Healing: Alternative Strategies for Teaching At-Risk Students. Jerry’s book, Finding My Way, is a collection of short stories that relate unusual and noteworthy experiences he had in his early life and into his adulthood. They all reflect some surprising displays of human kindness.

His most recent book, Swimming Upstream: The Little Tennessee Valley Educational Cooperative, describes the developmental years of the cooperative as it assisted area school systems to begin to implement the then new 1973 special education laws.  LTVEC evolved to become the Tennessee Educational Cooperative, TEC, because of the services it provides school systems throughout the state. In 2026, Jerry received the “TEC Because Kids Matter Lifetime Dedication Award.” The Swimming Upstream book was honored as a finalist in the 2026 Storytrade Book Awards “Education” category. It was chosen “for demonstrating exceptional literary craft, excellence, and innovation.”