[close] Born at old St Vincent's Hospital in Portland, but grew up on the coast, the west slope of the Cascades, and, mostly, on the dry side in The Dalles, on the Columbia. Graduated from high school there in 1964. Got a BA in Political Science, Honors College, U of O, in 1968. Always writing something, and often printing or publishing. In the service of causes and passions. From '67 to '78, he was a labor activist, working in Teamsters, steel, and construction. In '78, he turned to full-time writing, which lead to publishing. As publishing became one of his passions, especially the ways it could be used in the classroom, elementary on, to bring kids into the literary process in individually meaningful ways, he turned his prose to championing classroom publishing. With Linny Stovall, he was co-publisher of Blue Heron Publishing from its founding in the mid '80s to its sale in the late '90s. He continued as publisher for two years, before coming the Portland State University in 2001 with a proposal for a teaching press and a graduate curriculum in book publishing within the existing master's in writing. He was hired July 1st, 2001, to create such a program, including a student-run, commercial publishing company. [close]