Other literary influences that serve as "iron" to sharpen the "iron" of my own prose include Heinlein, Thomas Hardy, Le Guin, John Fowles, Jane Austen, Henry Fielding and Ray Bradbury. Among the many fascinating theatrical scripts that I have had the good pleasure to have read and/or seen performed, I consider those created by Wilde, Euripides, Chekhov, Ibsen, Brecht, Shaw, Moliere, Beckett, Miller, Tennessee Williams and Pinter to be tremendously sophisticated and intriguing. Whether it is scenic spectacle or dramatic dialogue, there is much to be admired in work of the above-mentioned writers. Poetic influences include Eliot, Pound, Plath, Dickinson, Browning, Frost, Keats, Wordsworth, Byron, Shelley, Yeats, Marvell, Stevens and MacLeish. I have written a lot of poetry over the years, and I continue to fine-hone my skills. I am motivated by my goal of perfecting poetry that involves applying what Keats called "negative capability" to create what Eliot referred to as objective correlatives" which allow the reader to achieve a full sensual, conceptual and spiritual experience.

As I hinted previously, contemporary music has predisposed me to appreciate the nuances of lyrical phrasing. Many individual artists have made an impact on me: Paul Simon, Bob Dylan, George Harrison, John Lennon, Elvis Presley, Jim Croce, Harry Chapin, Joan Baez, Annie Lennox, Buffie St. Marie, Joni Mitchell, Carole King, Madonna, Carly Simon, James Taylor, Neil Young, Barbara Streisand, Neil Diamond, Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, Garth Brooks, Gerry Rafferty, Elton John and John Denver. The list could go on and I know I'm forgetting many people. Most prominent among the many musical groups whose lyrics and music influenced me are: The Beatles, Fleetwood Mac, Steely Dan, The Eagles, Supertramp, Queen, ELO, REM, Crowded House, Three Dog Night, REO Speedwagon, Mad Season, the Steve Miller Band and Crosby, Stills Nash and Young. There is a distinctive dichotomy between my current spiritual faith and the ideologies inherent in some of the lyrics made famous by the above-mentioned bands. My muse inspires me to reconcile some of these disparities by creating my own prose-poetry to offer hope, spiritual meaning, encouragement and enlightenment to allay the concerns, fears, skepticisms and often bitter perspectives that come through in the modern music scene.