Born in California with a penchant for deep thought, the author was smitten with language as a communicative tool, and spent a great deal of cognitive ability trying to determine what made up words and meanings.
Driven by his motivation to impress, he self-studied Latin, Greek, and Old English in an effort, not only to understand language, but also to learn how to control language.
Four years of teaching English in China gave him a broader scope of language as he learned Chinese by pure immersion into the language. This probing of another language system brought him closer to the syntax which makes up English.
Grammar has always been a flower in the writer's garden, and punctuation is his own house key, as he likes to put it. They unlock the depth and meaning of so many of his works.
There are few people who have passed through his life who have garnered as much love as his cats. He is a feline enthusiast, and associates himself with the best of that species. Jimmy, his cat in China, holds the highest place in his heart, and for good reason. Jimmy was more than a friend, he was a person caught in a cat's form.
The author rarely writes specifically for his wife, though he does write for he generally. With his ongoing work, he feels that the best poem is yet to be written, and that one will be for her.
-- Kent Willams. Poet. |
