About Me — Andrew Gaertner

Me. Photo by me.

I write to hold up a mirror to myself.

I write to reveal who I am, to the world and mostly to myself. Who am I? How do I fit in? What is my great work? These are the questions that I seek answers to in this mirror.

My surface identity is simple to talk about. I am a 53-year-old white man who grew up in Wisconsin. My dad is a retired Lutheran minister, and my mom, also retired, held various…