His father, Charles "Buzz" Ridl, coached basketball at Westminster College, Pennsylvania and the University of Pittsburgh.He graduated from Westminster College, Pennsylvania with a BA and M.Ed., in 1970.
His work has appeared in LIT, The Georgia Review, FIELD, Poetry, Ploughshares, Prairie Schooner, Gulf Coast, The Denver Quarterly, Chelsea, Free Lunch, The Journal, Passages North, and Poetry East.
Hope College has named its Visiting Writers Series for him.He lives in Laketown Township, Michigan, with his wife, Julie.