Who am I? Well, I was born near Coventry at the peak of its post-industrial decline, grew up near Manchester at the peak of its post-industrial decline. Then, while I was in high school, the family moved to the US, near Detroit as it rapidly declined. I lived in and around Detroit until 1997.

 

My twenties consisted of flunking out of college twice, hitch-hiking to Panama, hitch-hiking to California, trying briefly to live in Denver, trying briefly to live in Toronto, trying briefly to live back in England. In between travels I worked in numerous terrible jobs, and spent many a week-end partying. Then I met Michele, fell in love and got married. We still are.

 

My thirties consisted of getting a vocational certificate as an Electronic Technician, and getting a job repairing everything at gas stations. Then I finished college with a B.A. in History, and began working in vocational rehab with people with mental disabilities. I was promoted rapidly. Meanwhile, the adventures continued, now with Michele: a road trip to Vancouver, a trip to Belize, the beginnings of a long series of trips to various corners of North America. We took up bird watching. We bought a sailboat and sailed on the Great lakes. Finally,  I began taking the sport of running seriously by training for and running marathons.

 

In my forties we lived in Long Beach, Ca. I was the operations manager for a welfare agency. We continued with the same interests and adventures (birding, sailing, running, and travelling), now based in the west coast. I went to get my Masters in History at CSULB, completed it, and then found myself going to Minnesota to get my Ph.D. The seven years of grad school, and living in Minneapolis were some of the happiest in my life.

 

Now we live in Eastern Tennessee, and I work as a history professor at a small public liberal arts college. I also coached (part-time) the college cross country program for seven years. I have finished that, and now am using the time to write a book. I have finished marathoning – having culminated my experience at Boston in 2015 - but still hope to find some speed in shorter races. We still bird. We still travel. I am adopting some form of Taoism as I explore my spiritual side. We have cats. We sometimes rescue and foster stray/abandoned cats. Life continues…