About Me

I am a former Silicon Valley geopolitical risk analyst and intelligence officer. I have a B.A. from Colgate University in English Literature and a M.A. from George Washington University in International Affairs. I lived in Kyoto, Japan in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

These days, in addition to writing and speaking, I teach English to refugees in the San Francisco Bay Area. Because I can never be too busy, I also serve as President of the California Writers Club of Marin County.

Recent Activities

Recent Writing

Yin and Yang, chosen by Redwood Writers to be performed live by Off Page Readers Theater in September 2024.

Three Tanka Translations, MedMic, 17 June 2024.

The Kindness of Strangers, Colgate Magazine, Autumn 2023.

Crying in the Driveway, New York Times (Modern Love), 2 May 2023.

Marin Poetry Society Anthology, Fall 2023.

Redwood Writers Anthology, Summer 2023.

Speaking

Haiku in the Garden, Marin Art and Garden Center, August 9, 2024. Haiku and tanka workshop led by Jayne McPherson and Jean Gordon Kocienda.

Tighten Your Writing with a Poetry Game, Mill Valley Public Library, June and December 2023.

Activities

President, California Writers Club of Marin

Member, Yosano Akiko Club

Member, Authors Guild

Member, Marin Poetry Center

Volunteer since 2010, Refugee and Immigrant Transitions