I was born and raised in Albany, Oregon and served in the U.S. Marine Corps in 1944-46. I completed my formal education in 1959 at Brandeis University in Mediterranean Studies under the guidance of...view moreI was born and raised in Albany, Oregon and served in the U.S. Marine Corps in 1944-46. I completed my formal education in 1959 at Brandeis University in Mediterranean Studies under the guidance of Cyrus H. Gordon. I took early retirement in 1976 from my position as Professor of Hebrew Bible at The School of Theology at Claremont and as Professor of Semitic Languages and Literature at the Claremont Graduate University in Claremont, CA. After leaving the academic setting, I moved to a ranch in Northern California. I now work in fiction as well as non-fiction.view less