Grew up in two Finnish foster families in Portland, OR, Vancouver, WA, and Hockinson, WA. This revealed to me the phenomena of other languages besides English (specifically Finnish and Russian) and aroused the desire to learn more about them So, in my 5th year in the Army as a military policeman, I pounced on the opportunity to go to the Army Language School in Monterey, CA, to study Russian for 47 weeks. Finishing high in my class there, I then set out on 16 more years in the Army as a translator and interpreter, learning Vietnamese and Persian along the way. After retiring from the Army, I obtained a BA in Slavic Languages at UW in Seattle, got into teaching English (of all things) at community colleges and privately, and then jumped into publishing in 1995. My first venture with a Russian newspaper for students and teachers was a resounding flop, so I angled into publishing phrasebooks and dictionaries. Of these I now have 8 titles in print versions and 4 in e-books. I presently live, teach English and work on my e-book projects in picturesque Ohrid, Macedonia.  

Three times honor graduate in Army language courses. Have published 3 very successful phrasebooks: a Russian love dictionary, a Dari phrasebook for aid workers, and a Dari/Pashto phrasebook for military personnel.