Bio

Don Hurzeler is an adventure and landscape photographer, gallery co-owner, author and retired insurance company CEO. He and his photographer wife Linda have been married 50 years.  Don was an All-American sprinter and a hurdler in college.  He is a life-long surfer and ocean waterman.  He has explored over 100 countries and pushed the limits of his life enough to keep Emergency Rooms in business around the world. At the time he wrote this book he could be found hunkered down at his house in Kona, Hawaii hiding out from the pandemic that struck the world in early 2020.  Aside from the pandemic…Don is one of the world’s happy campers.

Writing Career

Don started out writing one liners for comedians and columnists…starting at age 12.  He has written five books, co-written a sixth book of landscape photography, co-authored or contributed to several other books in the USA and Germany.  Don had a column in the Barrington (Illinois) Courier for years, with articles focusing on the community and the United Way.  He has been a frequent columnist in insurance magazines, such as Best’s Review and others.  Additionally, his articles or insights have appeared in print media from the Wall Street Journal to USA Today, along with dozens of other print and website articles.  Don has been a keynote speaker for decades and has been a frequent radio guest.  Throughout much of his career he also served as speech writer for executives at Allstate Insurance and Zurich Financial Services.  Don was the editor of a significant in-house publication for Northbrook Property and Casualty Insurance (then owed by Allstate Insurance).  Currently he writes the radio and social media commercials for Lava Light Galleries, Inc.  Don owns Kua Bay Publishing LLC which he uses to publish his own works and those of a selected few other writers.  Mostly he uses that company to help “new to publishing” beginning authors to get their works to print…and does so at no charge to any client….his way of paying back for those who have helped him along the way.  Don is the winner of the Axiom Award Gold Medal for Career Book of the Year for The Way Up: How to Keep Your Career Moving in the Right Direction.  Additionally, he was awarded The Golden Torch Award by the International Marketing and Communications Association (IMCA) for a lifetime of marketing and communications excellence. Don’s 2020 book, What’s Left of Don, was an Amazon #1 Best Seller.