The son of Ukrainian immigrants, Alan Felyk was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, but he has spent all but seven years of his life in Colorado.

A University of Colorado graduate in news-editorial journalism, he worked as a public information aide for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration while earning his degree.

Felyk started my newspaper career as a sports editor for Sentinel Newspapers in Denver and moved to general assignment reporting. He became senior editor of the four newspapers in Adams County and also wrote freelance music articles for several national publications.

In 1984, Felyk joined Lockheed Martin (then Martin Marietta) as a technical editor. He worked on numerous new-business proposals for the Department of Defense and National Aeronautics and Space Administration. He retired in 2011 from his post as manager of the Lockheed Martin’s Space Systems Company Editorial and Graphics department in Denver.

During his life, Felyk also worked as a groundskeeper, janitor, road crew worker, survey crew assistant, busboy, waiter, houseboy, and taxi driver.

He is a serious music fan (his iPod contains more than 27,000 songs), and he enjoys science fiction and humor. And, of course, there’s the writing.