Bio

My Story

I am a native Washingtonian, graduate of Kennedy HS, Silver Spring, Md, and George Washington University (BA with honors in English Lit, JD).  I worked for two years as a court appointed criminal defense lawyer.  I joined the Foreign Service and in the 80s served as vice consul in Medellin (then the murder capital of the world) and Bogota, Colombia and in pre-Guggenheim Bilbao, Spain as well as a two month assignment in Cuba.  I also worked as the Intelligence Analyst for Spain.  I became a senior level immigration law expert, and on retirement worked as Senior Counsel for the immigration law firm BAL. 

I am the author of The Dark Forever, Exiles in Sepharad: The Jewish Millennium in Spain, three novels self-published on Kindle, and many articles on immigration law and policy.  Honors include two Superior Honor Awards from the State Department, and the President’s Award from the International Outlaw Motorcycle Gang Investigator’s Association.  I teach courses on the Jews of Spain, the Mozart/De Ponte operas, and Silent Film Comedy at the Osher Lifetime Learning Institute American University and Encore Learning Arlington.  I won on Jeopardy.  I live in Arlington, Virginia with my wife Renee, who is originally from Sao Paulo, Brazil, and we have two daughters and a grandson.