Introduction

In what follows, I first review some of the major influences that shaped my early years. I then relate the subsequent developments in my professional career, including my research orientation, chief publications, collaborative relationships, and long-standing involvement in undergraduate and graduate teaching and supervision.

The Early Years

Growing up for the most part in Brookline, Massachusetts, I had the benefit of a first-class education in the local public schools. I remember in particular Ms. Fitzgerald and Ms. Frame, my seventh- and eighth-grade English teachers at the Edward Devotion primary school, for their instruction and care in imparting the main elements of written expression to me and my fellow students. It was then that I first really learned how to write and the need for clarity and conciseness in written expression. I have carried forward these lessons and have found great satisfaction in my own professional writing and the writing of my students.