Listen... Volume 1: death is S.I.R.'s first published novel and the first book in the Listen series of illustrated novels.  While in attending John Jay College, he was heavily involved with the school newspaper.  With a heavy focus on the Arts section, he created a column for student short stories that took place in the City.  This time period also saw the birth of his son.  In order to raise and provide for his son, he began a career as a New York City public school teacher. Artistically, he has a broad range of influences in visual, aural and literary arts.  As a child, he spent hours pouring through comic books from light-hearted fare like Archie comics, to more weighty comics heroes like Batman, Spiderman and the Punisher.  A music afficianado, he was influenced by a wide range of artists from Stevie Wonder, Bob Marley and Michael Jackson as a youth, to the stylings of Nas, Jay-Z, Blackstar as an adult.  In college, he began a love affair with his literary idol, Ralph Ellison.  That obsession encouraged him to explore other literary greats Morrison, Baldwin, Fitzgerald, Wright and Calvino.  Combining his myriad influences, he has crafted an illustrated novel that combines a layered, rythmic prose with vivid illustrations.  S.I.R. currently lives in New York.