Art Rude attended Minot State College and later, Minot State University, college for a Bachelor Degree in Education with Majors in Chemistry and Physical Science, and university for a “Master of the Art of Teaching Mathematics” degree. He taught HS in Bottineau, Belcourt, Dunseith, Fort Yates Public, and Standing Rock, with his last 9 years at Bismarck State College as Associate Professor of Mathematics/Physics. He left teaching to return to the oil patch where he had spent several years in the early eighties. All in all, he spent 31 years as a classroom teacher and coach, and at the time of the book release was the Safety Manager for Stellar Field Service, an oilfield service company in the Williston Basin of North Dakota. He has since retired, and has dedicated his retirement to “saving America from the two party system, a house divided cannot stand.” His home is a cabin in the woods (called his fortress of solitude) at his family farm in the center of the state close to the Canadian Border. From there he has written another book as well as this one, and blogs at Political Reform with Art Rude on Facebook. At a younger age, he had a state level job as the Public Relations and Fund Raising Director for the ND Democratic Party. Says Rude, “I took the job naively believing the Democratic Party represented the little guy, but when I got into the job, I found they didn’t want me wasting my time with fundraisers with the little guys, I was to go after the big bucks. I left the job disillusioned, and resolved to try fix the system. I ran for the state house and senate on both sides as I felt the problem was systematic and not limited to one side, I even got close! It was after that I started working on this book. A complex problem is not easily understood, I hope I have made it more understandable. More than that, I hope to alter the arguments back to discussion.” Political Cocaine will be a most enjoyable read and you will be amazed at how much your perspective will have widened, possibly beyond your two party blinders.
