I was born in Pullman, Washington, somewhat near the middle of the 20^th century. I grew up in Bellevue, Washington, and attended Western Washington University, where I earned a B.S. in geology.

In elementary school, I played baseball, basketball and football. I read Mad magazines around the clock. I collected baseball cards. I even played the violin and piano. In sixth grade I was the president of my elementary school. In junior high I discovered track and field and became a high-jumper. In high school I jumped 6’ 0”, which is not that bad, using the Fosbury Flop method.

In college I studied geology. In my last quarter of college I traveled around the Southwest with eight of my classmates and one professor to study and map rock formations. I nearly stepped on a rattlesnake. I camped among iguanas.

My first real job was as a geologist. It took me to northern California, southern Nevada and the Big Island of Hawaii, where I worked in the geothermal industry cataloguing the rock type, pressure, and temperature of geothermal well sites.

I became a teacher in 1987. I have been teaching elementary school ever since. I love kids and have been working with kids since I was a kid myself, beginning as a 6^th grader working with kindergarteners.

I live in Seattle in the sleepy hamlet of Wedgwood. I have two kids of my own. My daughter Cassady is somehow 16 years old. She plays soccer and ultimate frisbee. Last spring her ultimate team won the state championship. Over the summer she read thousands and thousands of pages. We couldn’t make her stop. My son Dylan is 12. He got a new bike this summer and rode it everywhere. He plays soccer, basketball and ultimate. He has beaten his dad at cribbage way too many times.

I enjoy gardening, and have recently been obsessed with grasses. I take many photographs and listen to many different types of music. I ride my bicycle almost everywhere, including to school. I love to read. This summer I read Ernest Hemingway and Ken Kesey.