I spent much of my first forty years overseas, residing for extended periods in Brazil, Italy and Australia, and traveling worldwide. After my last posting in Rio, we returned to the States to spend fifteen years working and living in Manhattan and Connecticut. My wife, Pam, and I now split time between Denver and Southwest Florida, where our two sons have settled..
Pam is a social worker and family counselor. In her leisure time she skis, golfs, plays cutthroat bridge online. Once a week she invites me to join her for road cycling and fitness swimming.
I start my day writing, then take a break after lunch to recreate (outdoors, and water sports, whenever possible). A perfect day allows me an hour before dinner to lose myself in music, playing high, lonesome, tremolo solos on my treasured Breedlove mandolin. Evenings are for reading. I read literary and historical fiction mostly, with a preference for stories with intriguing characters and settings, written with attention to craft. My running list of top-of-mind favorites [last updated 1/1/2022] includes the following:
-- Crossing to Safety, by Wallace Stegner
-- The Orchard, by Peter Heller
-- Paris in the Present Tense, by Mark Helprin
-- Manhattan Beach, by Jennifer Egan
-- The Pacific (and other stories), by Mark Helprin
-- Moonglow, by Michael Chabon
-- All the Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr
-- Boys in the Boat, by Daniel James Brown
-- Kook, by Peter Heller
-- Any Human Heart, by William Boyd
-- The Invisible Bridge, by Julie Orringer
-- Return to Oakpine, by Ron Carlson
-- City of Thieves, by David Benioff
-- Dirt Music, by Tim Winton
-- Water for Elephants, by Sara Gruen
-- Bel Canto, by Ann Patchett
-- Solo Faces, by James Salter
Poetry:
-- Contemporary: "Windchime" by Tony Hoagland
-- Classical: "Mandalay" by Rudyard Kipling
-- Whimsical: "Masks" by Shel Silverstein
