Duke is a registered member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation who grew up in the Denver Metro area. After earning a B.A. in journalism from the University of Northern Colorado and completing his Graduate work in Education at Cal State San Bernardino, Duke became an Author and Educator. As an Author he has several published poems, screenplays, a novella and two Novels that he co-wrote with his wife Nancy. By age 27, he was the youngest professor on campus at Chaffey College, wrote and directed his first feature length movie and signed on to teach at a school for troubled youth. Now 41, he and his family have made Kailua Kona their home where he continues to be active in education and the arts.