Biography
I grew up in Bloomfield, CT, a small but diverse town just outside of Hartford, the state capitol. I learned the value of public service from my parents early on. My father was an officer in the Navy until I was born; meanwhile, my mother was a volunteer with the Legal In-Service Project, advising Vietnam-era servicemen about their legal options. Both of them were active in the community, coaching youth sports, volunteering in civic groups, and lobbying to keep art, music, and other enrichment programs present in the schools. I learned that normal people could (and should!) have an effect on their community; I also learned from my neighbors that normal people could hold elected office, as my playmates’ parents included school board members and a state legislator.
I attended the Bloomfield public schools through high school. While I received a good education there, I also witnessed the corrosive effect that politics can have on government-run schools; my younger siblings opted for private high schools, as the quality programs from which I had benefited were eaten by funding disputes and well-intentioned but misguided social experiments.
I went on to Brown University in Providence, RI, where I studed electrical engineering, and held leadership roles in my fraternity and the band. More importantly, I discovered that the political values I had inherited from my parents and developed during my education were called “libertarian.”
I promptly discarded my formal education and went into the publishing business, first with a software company that made ebook tools, and then with a technical publishing company. I moved to San Francisco in 1999 for a job opportunity that proved disastrous. I have been an independent publishing consultant since 2001, respected in my field and a significant contributor to several Internet publishing standards.
I joined the Libertarian Party in 1995, and became active in the San Francisco party shortly after moving here. I have been Chair of the local party since 2002, and was previously a candidate for Assembly in district 13 in that same year.
Outside of my work and political involvement, I am particularly proud of my involvement with two non-profit groups. I was a Trustee for several years of the St. Anthony Trust of Rhode Island, a non-profit corporation supporting literary and artistic projects at Brown. I am also a student and instructor with Triangle Taekwon Do Club, and as a Director recently helped its parent body, Triangle Martial Arts Association, Inc., achieve formal non-profit status. (Please note that both groups mentioned here are tax-exempt non-profit corporations, and do not endorse my candidacy.)