Philip J. Gimson is an occasional author and former journalist who has spent much of his life working in public relations and recruiting. "Stop Pretending America! An Outsider's Guide to Healing the Sickness on the Inside in Elections and the Media" is his first non-fiction book. Previously, Gimson wrote a novel, "Paper Story," published in the early 1990s. He has also written three unpublished screen plays and abandoned a second novel after drafting more than 300 pages and getting stuck and deciding to trash it. With some time to reflect upon that experience, he realized it was all part of creative growth -- knowing when you have something and when you don't. A native of New Jersey he now makes his home in Pennsylvania and is an ardent advocate of the need to preserve American democracy. For the past three years he has regularly devoted his time to career and interview coaching of active and retired military and their spouses seeking to transition into the private sector through Candorful.org, a non-profit organization. He served for 5 years on the board of trustees of the New Jersey Chapter of the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation, and served one year as that organization's co-chairman/president. Gimson has an M.S. degree from Northwestern University's Medill School of journalism and a BA in English Literature from Columbia University. Read more about this authorRead less about this author