Lester Probst served on the DMZ with the U.S. Army’s 40th Infantry Division during the Korean Conflict from 1953-54. In 1959, he graduated from New York University as an electrical engineer. His first job was designing flight simulators, and he formed and led several computer companies until he retired in 2002. In 2004, after his wife retired from teaching they moved to Los Angeles. In 2014, he joined the American Legion, Hollywood Post 43 where he was introduced to creative writing by Returning Soldiers Speak. There he co-wrote with several veterans a two-act play that was workshopped and featured at ESTLA’s 2019 Winterfest event, highlighting marginalized demographics to the community. Following that performance he began to workshop his own play, VOLUN-TEARs, which is about women in the military and Military Sexual Trauma. Then the pandemic shut everything down.

During the pandemic, he joined various groups writing and performing both live and on zoom. He wrote monologues, performed a nine-minute comedy set, and co-wrote and acted in a two-minute film. At the end of the pandemic, the Veterans Empowerment Theater produced VOLUN- TEARs at the Blue Door Theater (the theatrical home ArtsUP! LA) in Culver City, California. There were seven shows, performed by a mostly military veteran cast and crew in late December 2022 and in early January 2023. Lester is also an active member of the Dramatist Guild of America and Veterans Empowerment Theater; a member/advisor of Veterans in Media and Entertainment; and a Board member of El Pueblo Park Association.