[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ fullwidth=”on” disabled_on=”off|off|off” _builder_version=”4.16″ z_index_tablet=”500″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_fullwidth_image src=”http:\/\/herbkeener.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/book.webp” alt=”book of herbert keener” title_text=”book” _builder_version=”4.27.6″ z_index_tablet=”500″ global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_fullwidth_image][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.16″ background_image=”http:\/\/herbkeener.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Depositphotos_9808899_l-20151-1_8e614d6e8c0d800491fd22b893092b9c.jpg” custom_padding=”15px||15px|” z_index_tablet=”500″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.16″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.16″ header_font=”Roboto|700|||||||” header_text_align=”center” header_text_color=”#000000″ header_font_size=”35px” custom_margin=”||10px|” z_index_tablet=”500″ global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_divider color=”#11679a” divider_weight=”2″ _builder_version=”4.16″ max_width=”5%” module_alignment=”center” height=”5px” custom_margin=”||0px|” z_index_tablet=”500″ global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_divider][et_pb_divider color=”#11679a” divider_weight=”2″ _builder_version=”4.16″ max_width=”10%” module_alignment=”center” height=”5px” z_index_tablet=”500″ global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_divider][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”3_4,1_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”0px|||” z_index_tablet=”500″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”3_4″ _builder_version=”4.16″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.6″ text_font=”Roboto||||||||” text_text_color=”#000000″ text_font_size=”17px” text_line_height=”26px” header_font=”Roboto|700|||||||” header_text_color=”#ffffff” header_font_size=”35px” hover_enabled=”0″ z_index_tablet=”500″ global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″]<\/p>\n
I grew up in Stockton, California, in a place on the east side called Garden Acres, better known as \u201cOkieville\u201d because that is where a lot of people migrated to in the 1930\u2019s and later. My father moved us there in 1944, built a shack, and then left my mother for a waitress from the local diner. We were worse than dirt poor, but we didn\u2019t know it because my mother never let a day go by that she didn\u2019t let my brothers and I know that she loved us. I believe that is the only reason I am here today. I was an unruly and selfish child who believed I should get anything that I wanted, and it did not matter how I got it. Growing up in Okieville, I got into many things that others did \u2013 most of them illegal. I broke my mother\u2019s heart many times growing up, and I never gave it a thought. I believed that was just the way of life, and it was not until I was forty-four years old that I realized who I had become. It was overwhelming when I discovered that not all of the other people around me were the idiots, but the idiot was actually me.<\/p>\n