About Me
My creative work includes essays, memoir, songs, and plays, plus performing as a singer/songwriter and actor.
I fully retired in 2023, leaving a research faculty job at University of Maryland designing and writing the scenarios of strategic-level simulations for government and commercial clients. I’m also a retired soldier and diplomat. I served in the Army and the Foreign Service for a combined 25 years with tours in Rwanda, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq, Darfur and many other countries.
I grew up in Virginia, I spent most of my professional career out of the United States on assignment or deployment, and when I was back from overseas I was in Washington DC. In 2021 my wife and I escaped the gravitational pull of the beltway and moved to the mid-coast area of Maine.
I founded the Veterans Writing Project in 2011 and a year later launched the literary journal O-Dark-Thirty. We’ve presented our no-cost creative writing and songwriting workshops to more than 3600 people in 26 states.
I studied music (vocal performance) at Virginia Commonwealth University, English literature at Old Dominion University, and songwriting at Berklee College of Music. I did graduate work in Liberal Arts (MLA) and Writing (MA) at Johns Hopkins University. I had an HW Wilson fellowship to earn my MFA in play- and screenwriting at Fairfield University. And I’m a trained recreational therapist and Registered Maine Guide.
Dogs like me and I serve a role in my cat’s life, too.
Image: March, 2020. Playing at the world-famous Threadgill’s in Austin, Texas. This was about a week before the venue died from COVID. Huge thanks for Jana Pochop and LIbby Koch for sharing their stage with me that night.