Donald Neil Bedeker (aka D.N. Bedeker) grew up in rural Illinois west of Chicago. Trips to the Chicago stockyards as a child were exciting and a bit scary. He later worked at U.S. Steel on the south side for a few years. He has written two novels about Chicago, "The Cassidy Posse"and "Dark Hearts, White City", that are set in the Windy City during the 1890s.
Neil had a wide-range on employment opportunities to learn about life: farm hand, cannery worker, truck driver, construction foreman, glass factory former, steel mill laborer, golf course ranger and RV salesman to name a few. He retired as a high school teacher, the job he felt was the most rewarding.
Neil now spends his winters in Clearwater, Florida, where he is a member of the Dunedin Writers Group. His first book about recent history, "Hot Pursuit in Paradise," is set in Florida during the Great Recession of 2007-2008. The author has received a 5 Star Review from Reader's Choice.