Biography Information

I grew up in North Adams, Massachusetts and attended Syracuse University majoring in Political Science and English. I worked as a medical technician, paramedic and laboratory technician during those years, but I found myself attracted to writing and literature. One evening I went to a party where someone was reading Lawrence Ferlinghetti?s Coney Island of the Mind. It changed my life forever. I began writing. After my tour as a U.S. Naval Officer, I rented a farmhouse in upstate New York, where I worked in a slaughterhouse for not enough cash and all the heart and tongue I could take home. Then I headed west, working and hitchhiking to San Francisco. In San Francisco, I went to printing school and published Journal 31, directed the Intersection Poetry Series and worked a series of jobs to maintain my writing. From time to time I have acted in Hollywood films such as Fat Man, Little Boy and Tucker. One of my fondest achievements is my teaching career. I taught Poetry in the Schools California and expedited the Northern California Poetry in the Schools Handbook. I taught at U.C. Berkeley before moving to Florida.

Teaching Philosophy

In the words of Bob Kaufman, Poet, "Everything I planned came as a complete surprise." Write on a daily basis and the process works. That means each day, write to stay connected to ideas. This makes for discovery and awe. This makes for the best writing. Phillipe Petite, who high-wired the World Trade Center was asked if he was afraid of falling and he replied, "No, I am afraid of not stepping out on the wire." Will Rogers said, ?Live in such a way that you would not be ashamed to sell your parrot to the town gossip.? I say, ?It depends on the parrot.?