Born on Long Island, early childhood in New Jersey, then high school, college and medical school in Vermont. General surgery training in the U.S. Army Medical Corps. Left Uncle Sam's employ after nine years (lieutenant colonel) for private practice. Recently retired, I now have time to pursue what I've always enjoyed - writing.  In addition to my highly literate, published-author (non-fiction) parents, I'd have to say my greatest influence was my ninth-grade English teacher, who made it her mission to drill the rules of grammar into us. Though my education in the sciences and subsequent surgical career left little time to hone my writing skills, I kept my hand in over the years, including the publication of scientific articles for surgical journals and my annual Christmas letter to family and friends.  These folks were so impressed by my rapier wit, they urged, "You should write a book." So I did. I chose the thriller/suspense genre, because that has been my favorite category of novels to read. Plus, since these books usually contain ample sex and violence, I thought it would be the easiest genre to tackle, following the axiom, "You should write what you know."  

University of Vermont - Phi Beta Kappa, cum laude