Biography:

"The mind--the culture--has two little tools, grammar and lexicon: a decorated sand bucket and a matching shovel. With these we bluster about the continents and do all the world's work. With these we try to save our very lives."
                                                                             ~Annie Dillard

Most days it's hard for me to imagine that there are other ways to fill one's days than teaching and learning. I relish the process of developing and exchanging ideas, of making meaning and art out of the written and spoken word, of immersing myself in the best words of writers and scholars from many times and places.

I completed my PhD at the University of Alberta in 1991. My dissertation deals with literary nonfiction writers Annie Dillard and Lewis Thomas. I did my first two degrees here at Andrews: a BA in English and Communication (1997) and an MA in English Literature (1978). Before returning to Andrews in 1992, I taught at Canadian University College in Alberta, and Newbold College in England.

I currently teach primarily writing and performance classes in the English and Communication Departments at Andrews. I also teach in SAGES--the campus' honors program. I have received two awards for my teaching here: The Honors Faculty of the Year, 2001-2002; and The Award for Excellence in Teaching, 1997-1998. I have published an article on Frank McCourt's Angela's Ashes and the entry on Annie Dillard in The Encyclopedia of the Essay. Current research interests include Anne Lamott, Flannery O'Connor, and Virginia Woolf.

Outside of teaching I enjoy correspondence, cats, foreign films, and the care and feeding of souls and stomachs.

Current Research or Professional Activities:

Published an article on memoirist Frank McCourt and an Encyclopedia of the Essay entry on Annie Dillard; pending publication is an article on the oral reading of scripture. Presented papers and chaired sessions at conference of the College English Association; International Association of Philosophy and Literature; Christianity and Literature; and the Michigan Academy of Science, Arts, & Letters. I am a faithful supporter of Calvin College's biennial Festival of Faith and Writing.