J Harold RyderBorn and raised in Moline. Illinois, J. Harold Ryder spent his early years enraptured by the beauty of the midwestern landscapes. After four useless years in high school, and forgoing the trappings of a college education, he packed three bags of J. C Penney luggage into a 1974 Toyota Corona, and earned an invaluable degree in life studies while working odd jobs across the United States. He eventually found himself (somewhere in the foothills of the RockyMountains), and decided to venture back to Illinois-where, on one warm, spring day, he met his future that was always there. Who said one can never go back? Read More Read Less