CURRENT MISSION

Meeting as many fascinating people as possible, visiting as many fascinating places as possible

ABOUT ME

Former journalism/media professor; former newspaper editor/publisher; and former NGO executive director.
Married to Rahat. Love to have conversations about world and US history, politics/government, geography, journalism, law, anything LGBTQ related, etc., all leavened with a sense of humor and perspective about it all. Bad cook, but we can buy groceries or take a guest out to dinner....

PHILOSOPHY

LIfe is not a dress rehearsal. You get one shot.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

Whatever I can do

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

None yet. I look forward to staying with someone some time soon.

Interests

Great friends, travel internationally, zoos, wildlife refuges, pets, national parks, museums, antique stores, historic cities and neighborhoods, architecture, great food, great conversation, great books, great movies.

• pets
• wildlife
• culture
• writing
• books
• architecture
• education
• ethics
• dining
• partying
• politics
• movies
• traveling
• skydiving
• golf
• business
• communications
• economics
• teaching
• geography
• history
• journalism
• law
• parks

Music, Movies, and Books

Books: way too many to list, but I read almost no fiction or poetry. I prefer history, biography, autobiography, plus books on journalism/media, politics, law, cultural anthropology, sociology, LGBTQ topics, behavioral economics, cosmology.

Movies: Network, Apocalypse Now, Absence of Malice, Citizen Kane, Schindler's List, Midnight Cowboy, Platoon, Fargo, Patton, Goodfellas, All the President's Men, Brazil, Broadcast News, Dead Poets Society, Elmer Gantry, Gandhi, Reds, The Last Emperor, Ordinary People, Shawshank Redemption. The LGBTQ themed ones: Milk, Parting Glances, Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert, Maurice, Beautiful Thing, Longtime Companion, Weekend, My Beautiful Laundrette, Trick, The Wedding Banquet, My Own Private Idaho, Another Country, Get Real, Shortbus, Jeffrey, Beginners, Dallas Buyers Club, Tongues United, Edge of Seventeen, Rules of Attraction, Priest, Sum of Us, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, The World According to Garp.

Music: oldies rock, blues, rockabilly, classical (esp. Mozart), some folk, occasional opera, country/western only when I'm bored with everything else, not much else.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

I have visited and/or lived in all 50 US states, 48 of them at least twice (states I visited only once are Alaska and North Dakota). I've stayed overnight in 49 states (all but Delaware).
Other members have mentioned skydiving here, and I've done that, too. Other members also have mentioned famous people they've met, so I'll say: astronaut M. Scott Carpenter, author John Grisham, US Communist Party chair Gus Hall, US Sen. Mark Hatfield, Tonie Nathan (first woman to receive an electoral vote!), golfer Lee Trevino, golfer Tom Weiskopf, plus various governors, state and federal judges, prominent journalists, second-rate actors, and noted professors (such as Bernard D. Meltzer at U. of Chicago Law School, and Merton H. Miller of U. of Chicago business school).
Not sure I would say anything else I've done was "amazing," but most people seem to think I've had an interesting life so far.

Teach, Learn, Share

I can teach about: U.S. history, U.S. politics/government, U.S. journalism and media industries (history, ethics, law, professional training, management/economics, writing/editing, etc.), U.S. LGBTQ history, U.S. LGBTQ politics, U.S. LGBTQ media and other LGBTQ culture, U.S. higher education, U.S. constitutional law.

What I Can Share with Hosts

My life story, my sense of humor, my travel experience.

Countries I’ve Visited

Austria, Bangladesh, Belgium, Cambodia, Canada, China, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Mexico, Morocco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Peru, Philippines, Portugal, Romania, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Vatican City State

Countries I’ve Lived In

China, United States