biography

Mel Dyer is an American freelance website developer, information systems specialist and weblog publisher.

Born in Washington, D.C., Mel grew up in a hard-working, middleclass, Catholic family. His mother, Shirley Anne (nee’ Poindexter), is a retired Howard University administrator of thirty-six years and is of Nigerian, Scottish and Norwegian descent. His late father, Lewis Edgar Dyer, who was a successful security entrepreneur and one-time boxing champion, was Mexican Creole and Scots-Irish. Both grew up in the racially segregated American South, and he is very proud of that heritage. "These are tough, courageous people, who worked so hard to give us the opportunities we have today, and we owe them everything. They're heroes, and our Great Nation is so much greater because of them."

The Spanish translation of his unusual birth-name, 'Miraculous', and variations of it are not at all uncommon in Mexico and other parts of Latin America, and 'Mel' is a first grade teacher’s nickname for him.

In 1997, he joined Leadership Directories Inc., as Assistant Editor of the Federal Regional Yellow Book, a comprehensive directory of federal agencies, and in 1999, he and two business associates started The Manhattan Journal, an online magazine for comic fans that ran until Spring of 2001. After the publishers went their separate ways, he joined the Center for Disability and Socioeconomic Studies, serving as its Communications Manager, until April of 2002.

Prior to beginning a career in publishing, Mel Dyer earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Howard University, where he minored in Human Communications Studies, and interned with The Larry King Radio Show (then, at Mutual Broadcasting System).

Presently, he lives in the Capitol Hill area of Washington, with his coyote-hatin' Goldiweiller, Kirby. He is an active member of the Kiwanis Club of Capitol Hill, a non-profit organization serving youth in economically challenged communities. In 2007, through Kiwanis, he tutored inner city youth, while volunteering with the Southeast White House, a local, faith-based, community service organization.

Mel Dyer is a cousin of New York Times journalist, Brent Staples, TV wrestling legend, Enrique Torres, music industry executive, Eddie Ray, and a somewhat more distant cousin of Senator John F. Kerry. He is a nephew of legendary musical composers, Robert and Richard Poindexter [Thin Line Between Love And Hate].

A Boyhood In Creeks

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