Lawyer and aspiring social entrepreneur. I've always been a fan of essays, polemics and political rants from Mark Twain to my hero in the genre, the incomparable Gonzo Journalist, Dr. Hunter S. Thompson. Philosophical influences: Nietzche (sp?), Sartre, Camus, Hesse and Vonnegut My enjoyment of literature is quite eclectic. I can gain entertainment and insight from Shakespeare, the philopshers listed above, Faulkner, Sholom Aleichem and many modern authors such as Jack Kerouac, Ken Kesey, Ian Fleming, JD Salinger, Philip Roth, James Clavell, William Kennedy, John Grisham, Karl Hiassen, Adam Smith and the list goes on. Poetry: I am drawn to it as a private emotional release. Dark, self-absorbed, personal and at times (when I am particularly inspired) tinged with a wry sense of irony. I imagine I draw from Allen Ginsberg, Yeats, T.S.Eliot, William Carlos Williams and Sylvia Plath. That last one made me realize that I have no other females listed as influences. I do enjoy reading literature and poetry authored by women, but have difficulty incorporating their insights into my own work. One of the great mysteries of the ages ;-)