About

I am a native Californian living in the Mojave (High) Desert of east central California. While I am not fond of the desert’s summer heat, I do enjoy its 340+ days per year of measurable sunshine. I love the light, the exceptionally clean air, the expansive vistas, and the night’s glorious star-filled skies. Winters can be cold with temperatures well below freezing. Spring and fall temperatures in the 70s and 80s make these seasons the best times of the year with spring enhanced by the beauty of a wide variety of wild flowers–especially in years when the rain has fallen not only in sufficient quantities, but also at the right times.

Professionally, I am director of a community college library, a job I’ve held for the past eight years. With over 30 years of professional library experience, I have worked in just about every library environment: school libraries, public libraries, corporate libraries, special libraries. The community college environment, however, is the one I love most.

I am the father of two grown daughters who enrich my life not only with their presence, but by sharing with me the joy of four beautiful grandchildren. I live with Robbie, my four-year old Chocolate Labrador Retriever, who loves to eat important papers, giving new meaning to “my dog ate my homework.” Once, he ate a deposit slip and a $1,500 check I’d left on my desk. Recently, he consumed the vehicle registration I’d just received in the mail.

I am outgoing and social, enjoying friends and good conversation. At home in most situations, I find it easy to talk with just about anyone once I’ve figured out how to break the ice. In that respect, I guess I would say I am a bit reserved and somewhat cautious about making the first move.

Of average build, with graying-brown hair and blue-green eyes, I’m often told I appear much younger than many of my contemporaries and others younger than I which I attribute to “good” genes and a healthy attitude. I think it was Jack Benny who famously quipped, “age is a matter of mind; if you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter.”

People who know me would say that the most interesting thing about me is my insatiable curiosity and my ability to find answers and information. I am a librarian, after all. My young friend and neighbor Tommy, recently told his mom when she failed to answer a question to his satisfaction, “I think I’ll as Dennis. He knows everything.”