The year of my birth was 1936. I was born and raised to the age of 14 in rural Vermont. This upbringing gave me an appreciation for the nourishment nature gives to one’s soul and deep-seated beliefs in honesty, integrity, and self-reliance. I moved to Los Angeles in 1951 and lived there and in Pasadena, Santa Monica, and Venice for most of the years until 1979. I then returned to my home town in Vermont for ten years, moving from there to Caspar, California in 1989.

My life experience includes a Bachelors degree in physics from the California Institute of Technology, a Ph.D. in Economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, nine years in the Economics Department of the Rand Corporation in Santa Monica, California, including 3 years as the Program Director of  the Health Care Research Program, three years doing computer-based analysis of the stock market, one year as an appliance repairman, and eight years consulting on energy policy issues, with emphasis on alternatives to nuclear power. In 1983, I founded Vermont Creative Software, a software development and marketing firm, and was CEO of the firm until 1999. I have  three children, Lisa, Karen, and Lilli.

In 1995, I established Dharma Cloud Foundation to work towards improving the quality of life on the North Coast. The Foundation has supported the Caspar Community, the Monday Night Sangha, the Abhayagiri Buddhist Monastery, the Mendocino Land Trust, the Coastal Commission's effort to adopt a scenic bridge railing, the Mendocino Institute, and the Campaign to Restore Jackson State Redwood Forest.