Biography

AMATEUR RADIO: I am a Morse Code (CW) enthusiast, and have been talking to other Hams all over the world for more than 60 years. I am also heavily involved in providing organized Public Service and Emergency Communications (via RACES) for Hunterdon County and Raritan Township, NewJersey, whenever the need arises.

RECREATIONAL FLYING: I started flying when I was 68 years old, and I greatly enjoy sightseeing from the air and improving my flight-navigation skills. I fly a Cessna 172P Skyhawk, and can often be found at Solberg Airport in central New Jersey.

FENCING: My preferred weapon is the foil. In the late 1960's I was the fencing instructor at the New Brunswick, New Jersey YMCA. I no longer compete, but still enjoy friendly bouts.

ARCHERY: I am strictly a target shooter. I have always used recurve bows; my current favorite being the Hoyt Gold Medalist (70 inches, 33 pounds). I was an active competitor in the mid-1960's, but these days it is strictly backyard shooting with my teen-age grandson (my backyard range covers 75 meters).

ASTROPHOTOGRAPHY: I got the bug when studying astrophysics in college, and I'm still infected. My backyard observatory is a 12- by 16-foot building that houses two homebrew telescopes -- an 8-inch Dall-Kirkham Cassegrain (f/20) and a 12.5-inch Newtonian (f/4.5). My primary interest is photographing deep-sky objects.

FLAMENCO GUITAR: My family was immersed in music, and I studied the piano for a number of years (I still love to play Bach,Telemann, and Handel). However, I looked down upon the Flamenco music that always surrounded me as being too earthy. It was not until I was in my thirties that I really started to appreciate it. After a tenuous start, which involved a few years of "dabbling" and "hanging out" with Flamencos, I was told that I should study the guitar in earnest. Following this advice, I studied for several years with Jose Antonio Matos (my grandfather), after which I became a student of the great Juan Garcia de la Mata. Many years later I, myself, became a teacher of the instrument.

UNIX SYSTEM ADMINSTRATION: Not the world's most common hobby, but it's mine. Actually, what I am attempting to master is Linux Red Hat, which is feature-for-feature identical to UNIX System 5 Release 4 with X-Window and Motif. I am having great fun learning to write little utilities in C-code and Shell script.