Asa Dunnington was born June 7, 1939, in Logan, Iowa. His family moved to Southern California when he was four years old. He was raised in El Monte, California (the end of the Santa bFe Trail) and graduated from El Monte High School in 1957. After graduation, he went into the US Army Reserve and served three and a half years as a tanker. He finished his military commitment by serving four years in the US Air Force. He then graduated from Antelope Valley College after completing ten years of night school. Following graduation, he went to work for Mattel, where he worked for five years to become western regional marketing manager. He left Mattel to join the advance team for the presidential campaign of 1972. He was a lead advance man and remained in the Washington, DC, area until 1974. He then worked for several major corporations before retiring in 2012 after fifteen years at Federal Express. Asa is married to Cheryl, who is his second wife. He has three children and nine grandchildren. His autobiography, What a Life!, can be found on Amazon.