bio
I've been teaching full-time at Sacramento City College since 1991 and before that at Sac State and elsewhere. I grew up in a farming town in New England and earned my BA, MA, and almost a Ph.D. in Connecticut and New York. I also have a high school credential and an ESL teaching certificate. Though I find the classroom an exciting place to work, I also enjoy teaching over the Internet.
I've been married to Elisabeth, a Belgian citizen, for 28 years now; together we have two daughters, Sara (18) and Mieke (15). In my free time, I enjoy writing poetry, watching movies (I was once a newspaper film critic), and traveling.
Actually, I have trekked to the other side of the world only to discover that what matters most in my life is here in my own backyard. I've dived sunken wrecks in the Red Sea, been attacked by a shark off the coast of Belize (no bites), gone tubing on an underground river (with wetsuit and miner's headlamp), and encountered a great black one-horned rhino while hiking alone in the jungles of Nepal. Recently I paddled for two weeks through the Grand Canyon, and two years ago I trekked through the Himalayas for a month with a 25-pound backpack.
But to me, it's the students who come to Sacramento City College to pursue a college degree who are truly courageous. Community colleges are the best deal in American education today, and the students who come to our campus make learning and teaching there an exhilarating experience.