An early interest in the music of Prokofiev and Beethoven metamorphosed into an obsession with the music of Gustav Mahler, which I discovered while studying at San Francisco State University (less promisingly, I also discovered the music of Erik Satie). My wife and I met when I was 12 and she was 13, and we’ve been together ever since. I have been employed in the Martha’s Vineyard public school system for 35 years in various capacities, including junior high history teacher and instructor of music appreciation for adult education classes. I have written for Fanfare for 10 years, and I have loved every minute of it—the actual hours have been very hard work, though. In my scant leisure time, I am singer and guitarist in a very occasional rock band called The Tragic Mistakes.