Born: 1950 in Columbus, Ohio, U.S.A. Primary modeling interests: sailing ships, twentieth-century ships, and aircraft - in that order. First model: Revell DC-7, in 1956. First ship model: Revell U.S.S. Haven, in 1956. Other hobbies: photography, classical music, and (when necessary and with extreme reluctance) home maintenance.
Very happily married since 1991; three stepchildren, five step-grandchildren, one incredibly stupid cat. Stepdaughter got married in August, 2015; my role in that event was to stand on the sidelines with my checkbook open.
Employment: Now retired. 1983-2016, Associate Professor of History, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, teaching freshman-level American history survey courses, a two-course sequence in American military history, museum studies, and historic preservation (i.e., preservation of old buildings). 1980-1983: Assistant Curator for Collections, the Mariners' Museum, Newport News, Virginia. 1973-1980: Grad student in history, Ohio State, 1973-1980. MA 1975; PhD 1980.
The photo in my avatar is of my model of the American Continental Frigate Hancock, of 1776. It's scratchbuilt (with some manufactured parts - mainly blocks, deadeyes, etc.) on the scale of 3/32" = 1' (or 1/128), giving it an overall length of about 18". It's discussed in more detail in this thread: http://cs.finescale.com/fsm/modeling_subjects/f/7/t/155391.aspx?sort=ASC&pi240=1 .