In the 1960s I narrowly avoided prep school when I discovered it was boys-only. I played the clarinet and saxophone, sang in music groups, and gave moody piano improvisations at public concerts (mostly because I was infatuated with unattainable young ladies).

In the 1970s I studied music composition and met Mary at Yale, then taught electronic music studio use. For several years I wrote music for Off-Broadway and film.

The foolish middle years

Later I worked for 10 years on Madison Avenue in publishing, advertising and PR.

Mary and I moved to Boston in 1989 and Maine in 1991. Ever since then, she has said, “That’s as far northeast as you go, buster,” because she knows I have my eye on Nova Scotia.

At L.L. Bean, I was the copy chief, in charge of what the catalogs said. This was arguably a mistake, as it involved managing large numbers of people and I would rather have been alone with Mary or a pencil. So in 1995 I launched my own consulting business and have been writing happily for business clients ever since.

The foolish present

I love the outdoors—the ocean, marsh grasses, little islands with houses on them, and long salmon-colored sunrises.

I'm a Buddhist. As the Dalai Lama says, my religion is to try to be kind to people. I read Rumi, Whitman, Tagore, Rilke, Ken Wilber, Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, Mary Oliver, and many others.

I'm grateful for my family and my life. I hope you'll enjoy my paintings and photographs as well as my blog, Veritas, Baby.