My Life in Writing and Translating

I've been reading German, Latin, and Classical Greek since the early seventies. I studied Greek (including Greek prose composition) in the classroom, then taught myself Latin and German from the better-quality texts.

In Greek I have read the usual range of authors: Homer, Plato, Aeschylus, Sophocles, Thucydides, Herodotus, and the lyrics poets. I read perhaps 150 pages of Greek every year.

In Latin I have read mostly prose authors, Tacitus and Cicero, plus a good amount of Post-Classical and Mediaeval Latin — theologians, alchemists, and Newton's Principia.

My great love of clarity has gained much from my study of these languages.

My first readings in German were in the field of analytical psychology — mostly C. G. Jung, Eric Neumann, and Marie-Louise von Franz. I also began to read German-language reference works on Greek and Latin grammar and texts. It wasn't long before I felt comfortable in these contexts. I have also delighted in the German-language work of the incomparable Eric Voegelin.

During the past two years I translated two full books and some ancillary material for Caissa Editions, a leading publisher of high-quality hardcover chess books. These include Karlsbad 1907, by Georg Marco and Carl Schlechter and Moscow 1925 by Efim Bogolyubov. The first was issued in August, 2007; the second will appear sometime in 2008. I have signed on for a number of additional projects with Caissa.

I have also translated Karl Kerenyi's essay on the Aegean Scene in Goethe's Faust. This is the essay that inspired Jung to write his masterwork Mysterium Coniunctionis, and therefore has a central place in the field of Jungian psychology. After a lapse of 65 years it has finally appeared in English. When the essay will be issued is uncertain — finding the right publisher is an ongoing task. For the moment I am sending it out to interested parties, especially Jung institutes, throughout the world.

Other Skills and Experience

I spent 5 years in Silicon Valley as a technical writer and editor, in the fields of computer-aided engineering and X Window System graphics programming. I wrote user guides, reference material, classroom lessons, and new-user tutorials that were simple, clear, and well received. I generated graphics, assisted with final-stage production, and edited numerous technical documents that originated with other writers.

I am at home in any sort of programming environment, the UNIX operating system, and in Web development contexts. I coded this Web site, modifying a template from Open Source Web Design.

A resume (PDF) is available here.