Born and raised in Norwich, Connecticut, I grew up hearing first-hand stories of WWII partisans from friends of my parents. These stories inspired my later interest in the politics of resistance. The question “Why didn’t more victims fight back?” or, more pointedly, “What happened to the people who did fight back?” became one of the thematic building blocks of The Master Planets. In 2003, an award from the Johnson & Johnson Foundation allowed me to study of source materials at the U.S. Holocaust Museum, and much of the information I read there found its way into The Master Planets.

My love of Rock & Roll came from a different place. Like most people of my generation, I watched the first live American television appearance of The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show. That night, at age ten, I knew instinctively that in the span of a single hour-long television program,the world had undergone a sea-change in attitude towards youth and creativity. I recognized in rock n’ roll, in all its permutations, a music that resonated with the feelings I had about myself and the world around me. From that moment onward I listened rapturously to every new song on the radio, every new innovation in popular music. My first completed novel (optioned for film by actor Miles Chapin) was titled Ain’t No Sin to Rock and Roll.  I'll probably be listening to rock music on my deathbed.

After teaching high school English for 23 years, I now find myself writing about teenagers and educational issues. I'm working on a new book entitled Stupid School, and meanwhile blog about these topics on my various blogsites.