Final Chaos

I Mark Guadagnoli was Born in Gallup New Mexico in 1953, the middle child between older brother Joseph and baby sister Mary. Our Mother Hazel Joann Jennings was a very brave young woman who had joined the army nurse cadet program to escape the hills of West Virginia. She was stationed at Fort Defiance Arizona with fellow nursing students in the 1940's. My Father Felix Jeno Guadagnoli was born in southern Colorado, his parents, arriving a century ago now, were Italian immigrants from Cansano, Italy. Several of their cousins also settled in the area and hence the unusual Guadagnoli name became much more common in the region than one would have expected. I enrolled in the University of New Mexico, after high school in 1971. I studied biology, psychology and chemistry and worked in a local hospital and at Kirtland Airforce base. I had numerous interests including cardiology, and physiological psychology, biochemistry and science in general. After receiving a bachelors degree in biology I entered medical school and earned a Doctor Of Medicine degree 1981. I struggled deciding between medicine or surgery ultimately choosing the latter. Although I entertained Neurosurgery for a while, it was perhaps no coincidence that after training in general surgery I chose the lengthy and rigorous training of cardiac surgery, as it was heart disease that took my father from the family when I was 3 years old. My single parent mother Hazel exemplified the meaning of "The true grit of a woman". I don't know how she managed to work full time and raise three children. This truly tough woman was an inspiration and a blessing, and clearly responsible for my success. I am fortunate to have three wonderful adult children Lorin, Jacque, and Nick from my first marriage to Susan, and recently Grandchildren Harper and Holland. I am now married to Dr. Melinda Frye Veterinarian and dean of school of veterinary medicine, also a strong woman whom mom would have approved. I love a lot of things about Colorado, not only the outdoors and active lifestyle, but particularly the many wonderful people I have been blessed to have known and shared life with. As a cardiac surgeon I have celebrated many successes but also experienced the pain of failure for the patients we were not able to save. Although a scientist I have no problem acknowledging the miracle of life, and try to cherish every person and minute of our fleeting existence. I am very distressed about the suicide epidemic in our society, and the fact that so many people choose to take their own lives greatly concerns me. I decided to write a book outlining my thoughts on the matter as conveyed by a fictional story resulting in Final Chaos released November 2020. I chose the pen name Mark Goode the origins of which date back to a surgical procedure I had in the past, the operating room schedulers having concealed my identity using the alias. It is my hope that more people will read the book and that it might possibly help someone cope with the loss or better yet save a life. My wife says I am a big nerd. I have an active imagination and interest in science. I grew up with the space program from Mercury, Apollo, and the Space Shuttle. I watched Star Trek, Star Wars, and Terminator, to name but a few great movies and named my dog Kenobe. I built my own computer in the 70’s and tried to do Fourier analysis of electrocardiograms. I worked for the Air Force with lasers before entering medical school. I am fascinated with astronomy and physics, topics like relativity, String theory and black holes. I am equally fascinated with the brain, mind, and consciousness. I don’t like death! I hope and plan to “reboot into another universe” and meet the creator. I think about lots of things, stuff and life. I took remedial english and math upon starting college and I thank those educators for helping me! Thank You! I have half jokingly said many times that “I need to write a book about that” throughout the years. I finally did so with the help of an editor “book coach” now a friend and still an editor, Thank you as well for helping me get started. I hope to go forward as I transition into another phase of my life as the author Mark Goode. I have just finished my second book Covid Galaxy, and have several more projects in mind for the future. Thank you so much for indulging my imagination and reading my books it means a great deal to me. Mark Goode.