about me

I am a 4th-generation native of San Diego, California, a UCSD graduate, a lifelong surfer and student of philosophy and cosmology. My purpose in writing is well-expressed by this quote from the Russian poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko—“Poetry, if it's genuine, is not a racing car rushing senselessly around and around a closed track; it is an ambulance rushing to save someone." I believe in the old saying that "The difference between a story and a lie is the message."

I wanted to write a novel that would let people know what it was like to grow up as a surfer in Southern California in the '60s; to be present at the birth of a great university; to be swept up in the '60's counterculture and political activism, and survive all the craziness.

I wanted to fashion a story that would both entertain and inform, while eliciting some self-examination of the reader’s most closely held beliefs. I fear that the conflict between science and spirituality has reached a serious state of impasse in our world, with severely unproductive consequences. We have scientists declaring religiosity as delusional, and Christian fundamentalists denying the evidence of evolution. Jewish and Christian believers are aligning against radical Islamic fundamentalists in a spreading, worldwide conflagration.

I believe a middle ground of tolerance and respect must be found, to move the world towards peace and unity, and that is my message, presented by the heroine of my book, Esmeralda, in the climactic final chapters. Esmeralda’s mission in life is to banish fear from the lives of those she meets, and to meld science and spirituality in a complementary manner, to bring enlightenment, understanding and cooperation to the world through a unifying cosmology. It works for Beep. Perhaps it will work for you. Maybe it could work for everyone.

Though the book is complete, I am still in the final editing stage, and have uploaded only the first chapters so far.

favourite books

Slaughterhouse-Five
Cat's Cradle
Cosmic Bandidos
Sophie's World
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge

my websites