The power of mentorship, finding happiness, and enjoying moments of success | Gary Peter, J.D.

In this episode, our guest is Gary Peter, a talented writer, author, faculty member, and former lawyer. Gary is the author of the book titled, Oranges, consist of short stories about a life of a gay man living in the Midwest who is faced with life challenges such as dealing with his sexual orientation and acceptance during the AIDS epidemic, facing his mother’s death and an aging farther, and encountering difficulties of starting over after losing a partner. Oranges has changed how we think about love, relationships, intimacy, connection and validation, and has won multiple awards including, Winner of the 2019 Midwest Book Award and Finalist of 2019 MN Book Award. In addition, Gary discusses about what he had learned about success through the making of his book. Gary defines success as learning through doing, acquiring as much experiences as possible, pursuing opportunities with passion, and never give up. Moreover, Gary’s advice on success is to identify a mentor, be supportive of others, and be happy of others’ accomplishments. In his own words, achieving a life of purpose and meaning is to enjoy every moment of success because it goes so quickly, but more than anything, work on being a good person, make a positive impact, and look for a variety of sources to make you happy. Gary holds a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from Sarah Lawrence College, and a Juris Doctor degree from William Mitchell College of Law. Gary is currently a faculty member at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities where he teaches courses in writing, law and popular culture, and the future of work and technology.