Eugene has had a lifelong love of philosophy, which has guided his life since early childhood. He grew up in the desert southwest of Arizona and can remember as a boy when the state had less than a million people in it. The vast, empty deserts, the mountains, and the indigenous people were always easily accessible, often within or just beyond the city limits. As a youth, he spent long hours alone in the desert and mountains learning and appreciating the solitude of sparsely populated places.
After graduating from the University of Arizona in 1964 with a BS in zoology, he was called to active duty with the United States Navy and served until his retirement in 1986. During that service, he qualified as a surface officer and a naval flight officer assigned to various fighter squadrons and embarked on several different aircraft carriers. He had two combat tours in Southeast Asia in the Tonkin Gulf off the coast of North Vietnam. He retired from the navy in 1986.
After retirement from the navy, he completed a second career with the Arizona Department of Public Safety where he served as a police dispatcher and licensing agent for private investigators and agencies and security guards and agencies. He worked with uniformed highway patrol officers and with criminal investigators. He currently lives in Tucson, Arizona, with his wife, a granddaughter, and great-grandson.
