"I worked as a US Senate aide, a defense consultant, and a US History and ESL teacher in a high school in Prince William County, VA. For the last seven years I have lived in Gettysburg, where I write history books and run a small publishing company (which has now published 9 books, with several more on the way). I have also edited 12 books for a publishing company.

I have a passion for writing, editing, the English language, and US History. Equally, I love to pass my interest on to others. I do not believe these subjects have to be dry and I work hard to create engaging lessons for my students.

I have had a lot of experience helping people become better writers. I have worked both with students and also mid-career professionaIs.

From working (10 years) as an ESL teacher, I understand the challenges of the English language; studying three semesters of Spanish also helped me understand the challenges of learning a new language.

Being a practitioner (6 years as a US Senate aide) gave me a practical understanding of government. The widespread lack of knowledge of how our government works, how the Constitution operates, and why compromise is important is a primary cause of our political challenges today. I use stories, examples, documents, photos, and exercises to pass this information along.

I remember exactly when I fell in love with US history. It was April 4, 1957, and my dad took a photo of the moment. My sister and I were scrambling up the earthworks at Yorktown and I found myself wondering what it must have been like for the soldiers I use a lot of photos from my dad's and my own photo collections, which cover almost every site significant to history. I think the first essential step is to construct a basic framework of understanding that can then incorporate the facts and details. To learn history it's also important to learn critical thinking and how to connect ideas together

I would like to help you see how satisfying the learning process can be." less...