ABOUT THE AUTHOR

was born in Chicago, Illinois, in 1961. With his three brothers and three sisters, he was raised in the Midwest and in rural Canada. There, he explored cornfields, tadpoles, and frozen ponds, dreaming of worlds and adventures beyond the next bend in the creek.

Eventually, pretending to grow up, he went to school at the University of Missouri, where he graduated with a doctorate in veterinary medicine in 1985.

During one especially icy midwestern winter, the lure of ocean, sun, and new horizons eventually drew him to the West Coast, where he established his veterinary practice in Sacramento, California. Presently, he shares his home with two Dalmatians, a stray Shepherd, and a lovesick parrot named Igor.