About Steve Kuckuk

I live in Kaukauna Wisconsin (near Appleton, Green Bay and Oshkosh)and was born in 1947.

Back in 1992 when signing onto AOL the handles AppleBurg and AppleDude were already taken, so I choose ApplGuy (also SteveK ApplGuy) / really no reference to the computer at all, but I sure do get lots of comments on being a Macintosh person, and also on being a FRUIT / oh well . . .

I was raised in Shawano, Wisconsin . . . a small town an hour north of where I live now, graduating from High School in 1966. While I was growing up I was unaware of any positive gay role models. I always knew I was attracted to men, but not knowing anything about being gay, just figured that was something I could overlook. Went to college where I was drafted (before the lottery) and spent my year in Vietnam. Came home, went to work, waited around a few years, got lonely, and at age 26 went out in search of a partner. Found a girl (woman), fell in love, got married, and have two wonderful sons, born in 1974 & 1976.

When about 38 years old our marriage collapsed for reasons other than my sexuality (although that probably was an unspoken subtext) . . . I was approached by a man. Nearing age 40, flattered by the approach, I decided to would explore that side of myself that I had never allowed to be examined before. Finding that it fit, Randy and I moved in together. He was my first male lover . . . that relationship lasting a couple of years. I am open at work, and in public, and on good terms with my ex-wife, and on great terms with my sons. I do lots of speaking on gay and lesbian issues and as an aging hippie, am politically active, belonging to several local G&L networking groups and am a longtime member of PFLAG. I do not have a current partner, am not interested in any kind of casual (physical only) relationship and am hoping someday to find someone who has a value set close enough to mine that we can make a life together.

In the early seventies I met a fellow named Jim Gehr, who had been a sculpture for Frank Lloyd Wright back in the 1930\\'s and 40\\'s . . . This was my first exposure to true eccentricity and it has been something I\\'ve been striving for since. It also rekindled my interest in art, and while my abilities as an artist are minimal, I do know what I like, and viewing, experiencing art becomes a routine part of all my travels.

For a living, I used to sell computers and software to publishers. I spent a long time trying to figure out what the publishers of the future will be doing, what will I be selling in 10 years. It is clear to me that things will be different. Ecology will not allow us to continue to crush trees and smear ink on them as our primary way of communicating. Actually this is why I started playing around on CompuServe and AOL / trying to figure out what cyberspace is all about. Trying to see out that fits into the future of the 20,000 or so small local newspapers that publish this week. Oh well . . . we all spend our time at something. That search led me to the Internet where I found work for an Internet Service Provider company here in Wisconsin called Athnet. Over a period of a decade I took that company from fewer than 200 subscribers to over 20,000 clients. After a decade that job was finished and I\\'m now enjoying the pace of retired life.

In the olden days when I was on America Online I most often be found in one of the rooms dedicated to the support of Diabetes, an interest I\\'ve had since being diagnosed at about age 40. These days I can also be found on Facebook by searching on my full name Steve Kuckuk.

I guess that\\'s enough to share for this moment in time.

Steve