Mike can call himself a Native Californian. He was born in Taft, a small agricultural town near the center of the State. The family quickly moved, after his father was discharged from the Air Force at the end of World War II. They settled in Monterey Park, California for a time. Ultimately, they moved to Temple City and then to Arcadia, both in California. He enjoyed sports and relished his classroom experiences, always interested in creative writing. Stories of the Old West came to him naturally. Michael sat for hours listening to family tales about the early days from his grandfather who was born in Phoenix, Arizona in 1880. Members of the Kirkland family were early settlers in the Arizona Territory, Those early settlers and their progeny have witnessed incredible change for over one hundred and fifty years. Michael's paternal great-grandfather participated in the Gold Rush, and family legend has it that he was "Shanghaied" by unscrupulous sailors who abducted him for a three year sailing voyage to various ends of the Earth. He considered those three years part of his education and spent the remainder of his life as if every day could be his last. William Hudson Kirkland, told his children a plethora of his adventures. Michael's grandfather had a sharp memory and recited tale after tale about his father's life, as well as his own. Life takes strange turns. Michael graduated from California State College, Los Angeles with a degree in Accounting. He operated his own Certified Public Accounting practice for more than 40 years. His heart was in the annals of history, however, so he gathered family stories and stories of others over decades, as a hobby. Thirty years later, Michael drafted his first novel. The working title was Joshua. It seemed he never had time to complete the manuscript. Once retired, he was compelled to complete the task. He enjoyed the process immensely. His first book, Equal and Alike is very loosely fashioned after his great-grandfather's experiences in California. The second novel, soon to be released called, Taken at the Flood takes place in what would become known, years later, as the State of Arizona. Michael lives with his wife of many decades in Palm Desert, California. The have two children and five grandchildren.
