I grew up in Northern California and have lived in Madison,
Wisconsin as well as Boston, Massachusetts. I've traveled
widely throughout Europe, and also to Argentina, Israel, and
throughout the US.
I came to AUP looking for inspiration in Paris. I wanted to
be a poet. I found even more than I was seeking. The school
itself was inspiring. The seriousness of purpose I found in
my professors and their excitement about the material and
about scholarship was contagious. And of course, Paris was
magical for me. My two years at AUP were hugely influential
– and a whole lot of fun.
While at AUP I became Editor-in-Chief of the student
newspaper, The Planet, and Editor of the college
poetry magazine, Paris/Atlantic. Running the
newspaper was mostly a disaster, but working on the poetry
magazine was a much better experience. The best thing about
campus life was really the Paris cafés. Meeting friends at a
café to study was a distinctly Paris experience that I
loved. I read Hemingway in the same café he frequented while
writing the book I was reading. Weekend trips to Amsterdam
or the Loire Valley were pretty special too. I also went on
some art history tours, which were incredible.
Classes at AUP were incredible: rigorous, passionate,
challenging, creative. It’s remarkable to me so many years
later how many classes and professors I remember well. Even
the professors I didn’t like at the time made a lasting
impression me.
Paris enhanced my academic experience at AUP in many ways.
As a poet, I found Paris to be the ultimate muse. Not only
did the museums and scenery and people give me plenty to
write about, but of course there are chairs everywhere with
tables and waiters. So it’s really an ideal city in which to
sit and write and study.
After graduating from AUP I opened a Mexican Restaurant in
Berkeley, California that I ran for a couple of years. Then
I spent some time as the Publicity Director for a large
company. And then I went to graduate school, first in
Wisconsin and then in Boston, where I earned a PhD. I taught
in Rockford, Illinois for a few years and then took a job at
Contra Costa College, where I became Chair of the English
Department. Most recently, I was elected President of my
faculty union, and have been working full-time running the
union for the past three years. I also married, had two
kids, and bought a house. In my rare free time, I’m working
on a novel.
I've been able to pursue the discipline I discovered at AUP.
Even my kids have been influenced by my connection to Paris.
My daughter, aged 7, has a map of the Paris Metro in her
room and talks frequently of going to France. I have also
used many of the skills I learned at AUP in ancillary ways.
I’ve continued, for example, to work on poetry magazines
almost every year since my first efforts with the
Paris/Atlantic.
AUP is more than a college; it’s an adventure one keeps for
a lifetime. It's is a ticket to a kind of global citizenry.
Beyond all the clichés about life in Paris, which are all
true but which sound stale, AUP is really a great place to
learn. I value the great professors with whom I studied,
especially since I studied with them in a place that has
never stopped exciting my imagination, even twenty years
later. And to this day I have friends all over the world
because of AUP.
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