The first inspiration for my creative life came from my high school English teacher who assured me that poor speling, poor grammer, and a highly experimental approach to writing would not necessarily limit my literary future. Later, as an anthropology graduate student at the University of Pennsylvania, I greatly admired the poignant beauty for Loren Eiseley's prose. Scientist, humanist, naturalist, and poet, his ability to interweave paleontology with personal reflections on the human condition was most inspiring. I especially remember two memorable occasions when we met for lunch at a n more...
