A native of Montreal, I obtained my B.A. (hon) from McGill and an M.A. in social anthropology from the University of Calgary, studied the social-cultural symbolism of landscape at New York University, landed in publishing, then found my way into new media.
I am a first generation Canadian. My parents came to Canada from the UK in 1956. My mother was born in Westminster, London and my dad hails from Liverpool. Mum's mother was from Cornwall; her dad from Wales. Dad's parents both were from Jersey, CI, where granddad could trace his family back to the 10th century. This led me to my interest in genealogy.
Dad was one of the first programmers in Canada, working for a private company. We used to sit around the dinner table discussing how to teach computers how to tie shoes. It was a great introduction to the complexity of human culture since a machine takes nothing for granted.
Mine is a family of readers, and dinner discussions when we get together still range over the state of the world from political economy to physics. My own interests include the visual arts, writing, and gardening.
Robert Fisk. Great War for Civilization. Unravel the experiences of this journalist as he explores the Middle East based on years of first-hand experience. Fisk moves back and forth in time, wrapping each episode in background and consequences. Unnerving and enlightening.