By day, I am a bookseller: Since 1987, I have worked at The Booksmith in San Francisco. The Booksmith is an independent bookstore located in the city's historic Haight Ashbury district. (The Haight Ashbury is famous as home to the hippies of the 1960's, but as you can see from my now receeding hairline, I'm not quit one of them). Over the years, I have worked in different capacities at The Booksmith; for the last half-dozen years I worked as the events coordinator and publicist.

What's an events coordinator? I run the speaker series at The Booksmith, and arrange for author readings and booksignings. I have hosted hundreds of events with everyone from Beat poet Allen Ginsberg and bestselling writers Neil Gaiman and David Sedaris to the Nobel Prize winning Polish author Czeslaw Milosz. It's a fun job, and it's given me the chance to meet many authors I admire.

By night, I am a free-lance writer and journalist: Since 1984, I've had nearly 500 articles published in various newspapers, magazines, literary journals, alternative monthlies, 'zines, and on the web. I write books, authors, film and the visual arts. I have penned numerous reviews and feature articles - and have published interviews with such well known figures as Allen Ginsberg and Laurie Anderson.

Pieces of mine have also been published in various books including the Contentville Reader (contentville.com, 2000) and Encyclopedia of the Great Plains (University of Nebraska Press, 2001). I wrote the catalog essay to Marco Sassone: New Paintings (Diane Nelson Gallery, 1989), and my interview with photographer Harry Callahan is excerpted in Harry Callahan New Color (Hallmark Cards, 1988). My interview with Allen Ginsberg can be found in Spontaneous Mind: Selected Interviews, 1958-1996 (HarperCollins, 2001).

I am the director of the Louise Brooks Society. Begun in 1995, the Louise Brooks Society (LBS) is the largest and most comprehensive website in the world devoted to any silent film star. (In case you don't know, Louise Brooks (1906 - 1985) was an American actress of the 1920's who is best known for her role as Lulu in the classic German film, Pandora's Box.) More than just a "fan site," the LBS is an online archive related to this legendary film star; its also the home to the Louise Brooks Society - the world's first "virtual fan club" in cyberspace. The LBS has more than 1000 members in 46 countries around the world.

Here are some links to articles and information about the LBS:

• A brief history of the Louise Brooks Society
• "Fan Site Sparks Biopic" from Wired
• The magazine for Earthlink, bLink, ran a piece on the LBS - scroll down
  
• The San Francisco Chronicle published a story on Brooks and the LBS
• My neighborhood newspaper, the Noe Valley Voice, also ran an article

On a personal note: Admittedly, I spend a lot of time pursueing my interests. Otherwise, my days are spent with my lovely partner Christy (love of my life), and my two dogs, Sadie and Shadow.