Mark is a life-long resident of Minnesota; born in St. Paul, and raised in Duluth, an inland seaport of Lake Superior. After practicing trial law for nearly twenty years, Mark became a District Court Judge in 1998 and serves a four county region of Northeastern Minnesota. Mark, his wife Rene’, and their four sons live along the banks of the wild and scenic Cloquet River north of Duluth. His work has been published in Writer’s Journal and his essay “Leaving Mayo” was a finalist for the 2000 Pirate’s Alley Faulkner Writing Award.