Education:
September 1985 to June 1986
Peking University, Haidian District, Beijing, People’s Republic of China.
Participated in a year-long, intensive course designed for foreigners studying the Chinese language. Speaking nearly fluent; reading proficient. Taught English to graduate students.
September
1981 to June 1985
Stanford
University, Stanford, California
Bachelor
of Arts degree in two departments: history and Asian languages (Chinese).
Studied Chinese, French, Italian, modern and ancient history, law, and liberal
arts.
Employment History:
October
1994 to present
Author
China’s
Tang Dynasty, published in 1995 by
Benchmark Books, an imprint of Marshall Cavendish/Times Publishing Group. Part
of a “Cultures of the Past” series for young adults. Benin, A Kingdom in
West Africa, published in 1996, Spain
in the Age of Exploration, published
in 1998, also by Benchmark Books. Secrets of the Unexplained, Set II (Genetic Engineering), published by Marshall
Cavendish in 2000.
September 1989 to present:
Freelance writer, New Jersey, Texas, California, New York,
Represented by Marianne Merola of Brandt & Hochman, Literary Agents, Inc., New York, NY. Regular contributor to American Airlines American Way. Other magazine credits include The Atlantic Monthly, Wired, Smithsonian, Smithsonian Air & Space, Wired, National Wildlife, Sierra, Popular Science, Business Week, Reader’s Digest, Family Circle, and many others. Newspaper features — business, op-ed, travel and general interest — have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Chicago Tribune and many others.
September 2006 to present
Editor/Consultant, American Forests 734 15th St. NW, Washington, DC 2005
Provide research, writing and editing expertise for a major national environmental initiative.
September 2006 to February 2007
Guest
Editor, American Forests
Magazine, 734 15th St.
NW, Washington, DC 20005
Edited two issues of the magazine for this national non-profit while the editor-in-chief was ill.
Contributing
editor, Southwest Airlines Spirit
Regular contributor of stories on health, environment, and lifestyles for this inflight magazine.
July
1994 to April 1995
Contributing
editor, The Earth Times 220 E.
42nd St., Rm. 818 New York, NY
Edited copy and wrote stories for this non-profit biweekly newspaper covering the United Nations, with special emphasis on development issues. During UN conferences, the paper is a daily. Covered the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo and the 1995 World Summit on Social Development in Copenhagen.
January 1990 to March 1991
Ghostwriter/researcher, Hong Kong, France, Houston
Conducted
all research and wrote all draft chapters for a book by Michael Dobbs-Higginson, then the
Asia-Pacific Chairman of Merrill Lynch, Asia Pacific: Its role in the new
world disorder. The hardcover book
was published in 1993 by Longman, Asia (Hong Kong), and translated into Korean,
Chinese and Japanese. The paperback was published in 1994 by Mandarin
Paperbacks (London). The volume is now a textbook used around the world.
April 1988 to August 1989
Reporter, Courier Post, P.O. Box 5300 Cherry Hill, NJ 08034
Covered
urban affairs in Camden, one of America’s poorest cities, and county government
for this 100,000-circulation paper in suburban Philadelphia.
May 1987 to March 1988
Reporter,
Bucks County Courier Times,
8400 Rt. 13, Levittown, PA 19056
Covered
all aspects of local news in Bensalem, a city of 80,000.
September 1985 to September 1986
Editorial
Assistant, The Daily Telegraph of
London, Bejing, PRC
Assisted
the Beijing correspondent of a British newspaper with a circulation of 1.1
million. Duties included some reporting and editing.
June 1985 to August 1985
Intern, Newsday, Melville, NY 11747
Wire
editor for an experimental videotext system run by this 680,000-circulation
newspaper.
June 1984 to August 1984
Intern,
The Mercury News, 750 Ridder
Park Drive, San Jose, CA 95190
General
assignment metro reporter during an 11-week internship for this
300,000-circulation paper.
September 1983 to June 1985
Stringer,
The New York Times, New York,
NY 10036
Wrote occasional memos and stories on Stanford University events. Referred tips.
June 1983 to January 1984
Managing
Editor, The Stanford Daily,
Storke Publications Building, Stanford, CA Coordinated all editorial and
production aspects of a student-owned daily newspaper of 25,000 circulation,
served on editorial board.
Awards
• Katie Award, Dallas, Best Reporter Writing Portfolio, Southwest
Airlines Spirit “Why Am I Always
Tired,” about Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. February 2004.
• First place, International Association of Firefighters,
International Award 2003, Outstanding News Story or Feature (More than
100,000), for a Family Circle feature
about firefighters killed in 9/11 who saved lives posthumously because they had
donated bone marrow before they died.
• First place, The American Legion Auxiliary’s “Heart of America” 1999 award for a package on bone marrow transplants published October 1998 in Family Circle magazine.
• Finalist, The James Beard Foundation Awards 1999, for Best
Magazine Writing on Diet, Nutrition and Health, for a story on aging research.
It was published in the May 1998 issue of Southwest Airlines’ inflight magazine,
Spirit.
• First place, American Society of Journalists and Authors, 1997,
“Reporting on a Significant Topic” award for “Log Me a River” a piece divers
pulling old-growth timbers out of Southern rivers. It appeared in the November
1996 issue of The Atlantic Monthly.
• Silver medal, International Regional Magazines Association, 1995,
award for “The Burning Question,” asking if environmental damage has cleared
the way for a virulent form of burning fire ant. It was published in 1994 in Texas
Parks and Wildlife magazine.
• Enterprise reporting,
third place, Philadelphia Press
Association, 1988, award for a series of stories uncovering corruption and
mismanagement in the county park system.