Dedicated to defending the disadvantaged since his days in the U.S. Marine Corps, Mike was a criminal defense attorney, a crew coach, and a competitive sailor. Legend has it that he only sat through the law school admission test, or LSAT, as moral support for a roommate who was taking it, and even though Mike hadn’t considered law school or studied, his score was superior. He also aced the divorced-father test by raising three sons in an amicable relationship with his first wife, Patricia; her second husband, Jim; and Maury — Mike’s true love for more than three decades. They married in 1997.
They got together shortly after Mike and Trish’s last son was born, but a different kind of togetherness was the key to making their lives work. Maury and Trish were Cub Scout den mothers together; the four parents attended parent-teacher conferences together; and everyone celebrated birthdays, Thanksgiving, and Christmas together. At least one of the boys lived full time with Mike and Maury through the years while the others were with Trish and Jim in Santa Ynez, with lots of trading off at the top of San Marcos Pass on weekends and summer vacations. As the youngest, Kevin, told the TV news station that was doing a special on extended families, he thought it was cool to have four parents because there were more people to love.
Born in Mineola, New York, Mike transferred to the University of California, Santa Barbara, from Ohio Wesleyan University because the rest of his family was moving to Orange County. Mike and several other students founded the UCSB Crew Club in May 1965 and competed in their first rowing regattas the next school year in a shell borrowed from USC.
