Where are you from? I was born in St. Louis and lived there until I was 14 years old. We moved to the Detroit suburbs when I began high school and I eventually graduated from the University of Michigan's Residential College with a degree in English and Creative Writing. I've traveled all over the United States and lived in New York City, Chicago, San Francisco, Calgary, London (Ontario, Canada), and Portland. I moved to Seattle 5 years ago. The reason for the nomadic life is my wife's career - she is a Seattle Children's Hospital neonatologist (a pediatrician specializing in the intensive care of premature infants) and a Clinical Professor of Neonatology at the University of Washington.

How have you spent your life so far? What you would like to do in the future? I have had numerous jobs from truck driver to secretary to television news researcher. Many of my jobs have been related to the wine industry where I've worked in retail, wholesale, import and export. I've also made my own wine for the past three years. I'm enjoying volunteering with Literacy Source, the Seattle Public Library's Homework Helper program, the Seattle Public Schools, and helping teach ESL to Russian seniors through Jewish Family Services. 

What made you want to volunteer at Literacy Source? My parents were Canadian immigrants and I remember being taken out of school to go with them to their U.S. naturalization ceremony. It was one of the only times I ever missed school and that alone impressed upon me the profundity of the experience for my parents. Their parents were all immigrants from Europe who spoke English as a second language. I remember the difficulty they had and the discrimination they experienced because of their language handicaps.

What do you like about volunteering at Literacy Source? I like its diversity of students and I've been able to tutor both ESL and ABE students. There are a lot of supporting programs and the staff make themselves available to advise and help.  

Any highlights from volunteering at Literacy Source? I feel lucky to have had my two tutoring students each reach their immediate goals - one entering a training program to become a Certified Nursing Assistant and the other able to learn to read and write competently enough to apply for and satisfy the requirements for a job he wanted and needed.  

What might people not know about you? I did my postgraduate studies, a Masters of Mirth, at Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Clown College and went on to travel and perform with the Ringling Brothers Circus in 1976. Several of the stories I wrote about the circus were included in Elephant Hook, a collection of my short stories.