I was born in South Philadelphia and as a long time Phillies fan learned the value of wit and humor in dealing with yearly disappointments. I was a creative writing major in college and received an MA in Literature. My favorites were Fielding, Dickens, and Melville. As an inner-city high school teacher, I observed how failure in school crippled the hopes of students. Later, after a Ph.d. I took a position at UCLA where I published a number of books and articles dealing mostly with kids at risk and their struggles to survive the institutions set up to more...
