About

My wife, Jenna, and I raised our blended family of five children on five acres in Pickett, Wisconsin, where we’ve planted over a thousand trees and at least that many flower and vegetable seeds over the years.  We tend a small orchard, a large vegetable garden, a flock of laying hens, and a couple of old Shetland ewes, one of whom—Eden– is sixteen years old and occasionally needs some help getting to her feet. 

My fiction and essays have appeared in many journals and magazines, and I’ve published three collections of short fiction.  In October, 2022, my first novel, Breathing Lake Superior, will be published by Brick Mantel Books, a marvelous literary press in St. Louis, Missouri.  Ordering information for that book and some early reviews appear in another link.   In addition, elsewhere on this site, you can find information about my short story collections, and you can read recent stories and essays published by online journals.

I love the work I do at UW Oshkosh, where I’ve been a professor of American Literature, Nature Writing, and Fiction Writing since 1992.  I enjoy the company of my students, and I treasure the opportunity to introduce them to the literature that has enriched my life for a half-century.

I love the work I do at UW Oshkosh, where I’ve been a professor of American Literature, Nature Writing, and Fiction Writing since 1992.  I enjoy the company of my students, and I treasure the opportunity to introduce them to the literature that has enriched my life for a half-century.