William Michael Bastas

Bastas was born in Chicago in 1941, growing up on the West Side, in those days known as Little Italy. My Childhood was a combination of West Side Story, Goodfellows, and Happy Days. Our playgrounds were the alleys, streets, and empty lots.

There were lots of empty lots, created by the construction of the Eisenhower Expressway and the Cook County Medical Center.

Working in the neighborhood 'pizza joint,' I learned a lot about the good guys, the bad guys, the cops on the corner and the parish priests.

Dad was a Greek immigrant and mother, an Indiana farm girl. What a combination!

I am a serial entrepreneur, starting several businesses in my younger years, becoming a writer and professional photographer in 1985. Shooting over 450 weddings, hundreds of corporate events and thousands of portraits gave me insight and material for 'Change Your Vocabulary."

After breast cancer took my wife Michelle in 2006, I founded a breast cancer charity called The Smile Never Fades, Inc.