 Mike is a toy and advertising industry executive who currently lives
in Tucson, Ariz.
He attended Universidad Complutense in Madrid and later graduated
from the University of Colorado. He was a member of the 1961 Big
Eight champion football squad as well as the 1962 Orange Bowl team.
Later he graduated from the Thunderbird School of Global Management.
He is bilingual in English and Spanish.
Mike is the son of Chuck Bennis, who died May 14, 2006, and
Jeanne H. Gallagher. (His
parents divorced. His mother, originally Jeanne Hott from
Monticello, later married Warren Gallagher. She is now
widowed and lives at 20 Keokuk St. in Lincoln.)
Many Logan County residents are quite familiar with Mike's
father, Chuck.
Chuck grew up in Lincoln, one of six children of Steve and Anna
Bennis. Steve Bennis was the owner of the Candy Kitchen, the coal
mine, the two theaters, the two drive-ins, and the Grand Opera
House.
Chuck graduated from LCHS and the University of Illinois. He was
a member of the prestigious U of I All-Century Football Team, which
is composed of the 26 best football players during the last 100
years.
Mike looks forward to seeing old classmates and friends, but he
also will be at Prairie Years on Friday and Saturday
from 2 to 4 p.m. for book signings. The store is at 121 N. Kickapoo.
"Rules of Engagement" is a romance novel, and Mike said the idea
for the book had been in his mind for four or five years before he
put it down into a manuscript.
The storyline is: A torrid summer romance between a Parisian
debutante and a Boulder, Colo., grad ends in heartbreak until they
meet 22 years later for a final chance to reignite an unforgettable
love.
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Mike said he realizes that the world of romance novels is a
feminine domain. He belongs to an Arizona chapter of the American
Romance Writers Association of America and is one of only three men
in a group of 75.
Mike said one of the biggest differences between male and female
romance novelists is in the way they portray a moment in the book. A
woman writer will spend time describing what a woman character is
wearing, but a male writer will concentrate on describing what she
looks like.
Mike says he has found his storyline is reaching a common bond
with readers. Many have had a past great love that for some reason
didn't work out, and the story rekindles thoughts of what might have
been for a reader.
This is Mike's first book.
[Text from
file received;
MIKE FAK]
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