Ken Padgett
Historian - Freelance Writer - Webmaster
San Diego, CA
Talking about myself in the third person and the constant repetition of my name might sound like a bad case of megalomania, but it's just "spider food" for search engines.
Kenneth William Padgett Biography
Ken Padgett was born in California. His father was career Navy and his mother was a housewife. Ken's parents were separated when he was only four years old and his mom moved the family from Florida to a Washington DC area suburb in Maryland. They were divorced soon after. His mom went to work at the Census Bureau Publications Group and stayed there till she retired.
Ken's first job was working as a shoe shine boy at "Frank's Barber Shop" at the tender age of 13. At 14, an opportunity came up to take on a friend's paper route so he quit Frank's. A couple of months later he was offered an adjoining paper route and a chance to work on a truck early Sunday mornings as a "jumper" -- the kid who counts and tosses the bundles of papers out of the truck on street corners to supply scores of individual paper routes.
Kenneth William Padgett dropped out of high school at 15, almost died in the Great Flood After Hurricane Camille and drifted through various minimum-wage jobs in the restaurant business. He joined the Army as soon as he turned 17 years old. He got his GED (high school diploma) while serving as a radio mechanic and crypto clerk in Germany.
After a 3-year enlistment he returned to Maryland and went to work for the Naval Oceanographic Office as an electronics technician. Ken traveled aboard Oceanographic survey ships for three years, but after a port of call in San Diego, he decided to move there.
Ken Padgett serving in the US Army in Germany 1971
Ken worked as an electronics technician for several defense contractors in the San Diego area. Later he transitioned into administrative work; first as an expeditor, then a scheduler, and then a master scheduler. Meanwhile he began going to college at night to earn an AA in Business Administration. It took him 3 years to get his AA degree while working a full-time job. During this period he was reunited with a girl from Virginia he knew from his time living in Maryland. JoAnn moved to San Diego and after a couple of years they were married. Later they were blessed with the birth of a daughter.
After graduating from junior college, Ken Padgett became a full-time student at the University of California at San Diego majoring in Communications, with an emphasis on video documentary. He graduated with a BA in less than 18 months, going from 12 units per quarter to 32 units by his final quarter.
He also spent considerable time on his own learning how to use a computer. He was attracted to the new software for desktop publishing and graphics and learned all he could about it. Ken then became a freelance desktop publisher.
Kachina Press logo
His business thrived for about five years, but as page formatting and other aspects of desktop publishing became more accessible to less-skilled workers, the market for freelancers began to dry up. Ken then began studying to earn certification as a Network Engineer.
Ken Padgett studied on his own to pass the tests required to earn certification as a Novell Netware Engineer and a Microsoft Certified Professional, as well as the A+ Technician and Network CompTIA certifications. Ken began soliciting small business clients, mostly printing companies, for computer and network repair, and network engineering, while also promoting his previous experience with publishing and graphics.
Ken was very successful as a freelance Network Engineer for over ten years and during that time he also began working as a freelance writer. His biography and history articles have been published in several history and trivia books.
Ken Padgett's interest in computers led him to begin studying web site design. Ken created his first personal web site in 1997 and his first business web site in 2000. Since then, he has been an internet entrepreneur; creating original content and generating income through advertising. After careful research, Ken designed an attractive No Soliciting Sign (2008) that really works. Ads for the sign appear on all of his web sites and the sales are fulfilled by Cafepress.
A No Soliciting sign that really works!
Ken's interest in writing led him to create several web sites devoted to publishing his work. Ken wrote and published a Guide to Hopi Kachina Dolls (2002) that also explores the origins and history of the Hopi Kachina Cult. His Agilewriter (2004) web site contains many of the articles he wrote as a freelancer.
Ken wrote and published a History of Blackface and Minstrel Shows (2009) that soon became popular with college professors and high school teachers. Blackface! is listed in many syllabi as a resource and/or required reading for classes in a wide range of educational institutions. Blackface! has also been quoted and linked to by The New York Times and many other respected journals and nonfiction books.
In the following years, Ken expanded his research into the history of all racial and racist stereotypes in the media and published several associated web sites:
Update 2025:
While updating and maintaining his existing web sites, Ken Padgett continues to publish new content on his blogs and Instagram accounts as well as a popular YouTube channel:
Here are some other blogs and web sites owned by Ken Padgett:
write-for-food.com
Buy "will write for food" T-shirts
Ken Padgett Profile on Blogger
In December 2024, I moved many of my web sites to Blogger to save on
admin and hosting expenses. You'll find a complete list of
them there, and here:
My blogs
Ken
Padgett Facebook Page
I made my last post to Facebook in 2022, but there is a history there.
Alt.WWW.Webmaster FAQ
This FAQ is only of interest to internet history buffs. I created and maintained a "Frequently asked questions" web site for the above newsgroup for several years beginning in 2000.
Snail Mail: 3134 Mercer Lane, San Diego, CA 92122
Copyright © Ken Padgett
All rights reserved
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