I studied early Christianity and music as an undergraduate, then attended divinity school, and then entered a Ph.D. program in early Christianity. I realized too late that I wasn′t terribly interested in ancient Christianity, and that I should have focused on the late middle ages. But really, my temperament was ill-suited to a life of academia. After abandoning that career, I started working in the financial industry, where I have been an executive since the mid 1990s.
My interests include:
Linguistics and languages, especially (in descending order of proficiency) English, Spanish, medieval Latin, French, ancient Greek, German, and Hebrew.
Music in all its forms, but particularly “Gregorian” chant, polyphony from the 1100s to the early Renaissance, chamber music of all types, choral music in the English tradition, and opera.
Architecture and design, particularly late-medieval ecclesiastical structures and furnishings.
Food in all its cultural and historical aspects, from provisioning, preparing, and cooking, to the rituals of serving and eating.
Gardening, particularly the history of plant domestication, agriculture, and ornamental gardening, and the effects of the Columbian Exchange.
Evolution, domestication, and taxonomy of animals used for food.
Fibers and textiles, from cultivation and husbandry to production, in particular the history of dyestuffs and dyeing techniques.
