A few words about me:

I was born in Lafayette, Indiana. My grade school was Lafayette Christian and my church Lafayette Christian Reformed. I was baptized in that church, and excommunicated from it twice. (I didn't reply to the first notice, so sent me another. See "supporting Documents for details).

The place where my troubles came to head was Harrison High School.

In addition to the year I spent at Escuela Caribe, my reform school in the Dominican Republic, I have lived for extended periods of time in Costa Rica and Spain.

I have a B.A. in Spanish from Calvin College (as in John Calvin, not Calvin Coolidge), and an M.A. in Journalism from the University of Southern California (USC). I've written for the Los Angeles Times, the LA Weekly, El Financiero, the San Francisco Chronicle, Wired News, and Court TV's Crime Library. I've been a finalist twice for journalism awards presented by the Annenberg School for Communication, and once for an Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE) award.

My current home is San Francisco. I live in the Mission District, sublet an office at the Writer's Grotto, and am working on a novel.

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A few interesting links:

An uncensored discussion board for former students of New Horizons Youth Ministries: groups.yahoo.com/group/Escuela_Caribe

A website for NHYM alumni to share their experiences at the reform school empire:
www.nhym-alumni.org