Life takes strange twists and turns. My childhood was spent in the rural community of East Schodack, NY, across the Hudson River from Albany. After graduating from the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, I served on active duty in naval aviation for 7 years (then served additional years in the Naval Reserve). Afterward, I began my publishing career, first with the Naval Institute Press, then Liguori Publications, Fordham University Press, Praeger Publishers, and now ABC-CLIO. I published my first book in 1997, and I continue to have a great interest in the mystical lives of the saints; but I have a deepening interest in the sacredness of nature and the spirituality (hospitality) of food.