I was brought up in Baltimore, Maryland. It was the city where I began writing as an inspired youth. Fortunately, I was able to find early support and encouragement from the poet and director of the Johns Hopkins Writing Seminars, Elliott Coleman.  Although I attempted publication early on, I only received amusing,"quotable" notes, and well-wishes from various well-known literary editors, urging me to send more. I became discouraged believing I had sent the best I could offer. So, I stopped submitting for several years; however, I did continue writing. Recently, after years of work, travel, family, and various other involvements, I once again began submitting my writings, prose and poetry, resulting in some success, which brings us to this sentence and its period.