Michael Burgess lives in Delmar, New York and has lived in the Albany area since 1979.He grew up in Watertown, New York and has vacationed in Lake Placid for over forty years. He attended the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid. In 2012 he wrote and published A Long Shot to Glory: How Lake Placid Saved the Winter Olympics and Restored the Nation's Pride. He has had a career as an advocate on health and aging issues, serving as Executive Director of the New York StateWide Senior Action Council and the New York State Alliance for Retired Americans. In 2007, he was appointed by Governor Eliot Spitzer as Director of the New York State Office for the Aging and later re-appointed by Governor David Paterson.He currently is a consultant to community organizations in the Albany area.