NON-JUDGEMENTAL TRUTHSEEKER
TV Producer, small business owner, philanthropist, author, political candidate and civil rights activist Mike Hanson is a native of Austin, TX. After graduating from Travis High School in 1982, he attended college at the United States Army Signal Center in Fort Gordon, GA, and went on to the 249th Signal Battalion as a radio operator. During his military career in the Army and National Guard, Mike won several awards including the Army Achievement Medal, Outstanding Service Award, Distinguished Achievement Award, and the Adjutant General's Individual Award.

A retired Capital Metro bus driver, he now runs his own rental business, Gonzales Rental properties. Mike has run for public office twice; he first ran in 2002 for Travis County Commissioner, Precinct 4, and pulled about 30% of the vote in the 2004 Democratic primary for the County Constable's race. He is also known as a tireless civil rights activist, spending much of his free time serving on citizen watchdog groups like Court Watch and Police Watch "to make sure these governmental bodies aren't overriding their limits," he says, "and that the people are being treated fairly."

Mike has earned a strong reputation for volunteerism, donating his money, time, and materials to building homes for disadvantaged and low-income families. Mike also served as Project Volunteer coordinator on the historic effort to rebuild the Mt. Carmel Church in Waco. Through donations of materials and labor, the "You Burn It, We Build It" Waco Church Project was completed on April 19, 2000. The re-dedication ceremony featured speeches from former United States Attorney General Ramsey Clark, esteemed Army General Benton K. Partin, and Alex Jones, who spearheaded the project to rebuild the church through his nationally syndicated daily radio talk show.

As an award-winning TV producer, his work with longtime comrade-at-arms Alex Jones has been seen on British Television Channel Four, ABC-TV's 20/20 and Good Morning America, CNN, Court TV, and Hard Copy. In 2000, Alex and Mike produced a film about the events portrayed in this book: Dark Secrets -- Inside Bohemian Grove.

Mike Hanson comes from a family dedicated to public service; his brother Billy Hanson is an Austin Police officer, and his father, Otto Hanson, Jr., became known as an American hero when he saved many lives as an Emergency Medical Technician during the UT Tower shootings of 1966. In 1984, Mike married his high-school sweetheart, Melissa. They have two children, Justin and Krystal.