George August Koch

George graduated Summa Cum Laude from Benedictine University. He is a member of the Phi Theta Kappa honor society and a Print Media Excellence Award recipient. A freelance editor for nearly 25 years, he has edited over 50 books and thousands of religious, scholarly, and creative works. His abilities arose early. He began speaking at 8 months, and taught himself to operate the family stereo system at 2 years of age. He then proceeded to listen to every music cassette the family owned. Those which were opera or classical music, he arranged in neat piles. The others he threw over his shoulder and littered the living room floor. At 2 1/2 he could identify composers by their music, and became the youngest ever season attender of the San Francisco Opera. He was befriended by Luciano Pavarotti, and was invited backstage by him whenever he appeared in the Bay Area. By age 3 he became friends with elderly neighbors, Elsie and Minnie, 89 and 91, and visited them virtually every day. At age 5 he packed a suitcase and announced he was leaving home and moving to Japan. He left the house (his parents watched through the window), and several minutes later was sitting on his suitcase on the porch. When his father asked him why he was still there, and not on his way to Japan, he said, “I don’t know how to drive,” and came back inside. By 7 he was going with his father to convalescent homes to visit patients, and assist his father in worship services there. He would hold the hands of elderly residents during the worship. He moved with his family to the Chicago area in 1994 and began attending the Chicago Lyric Opera at 13. He continues to be personally involved in helping both elderly folks, and individuals and families facing difficulties, in the U.S. and Africa, often contributing substantially to their aid. He has been taken advantage of more than once, yet he persists. He attended Benedictine University in Lisle, Illinois, and there flourished in the study of language and art. He has been an independent copy editor and layout artist for many years. His website is www.copyedit.pro