John was a graduate student psychology major during the late 60's, and changed his major to creative writing. He was trained to create images in long poetry and his model poet was Dylan Thomas; whose genius with the language has always been an inspiration to John. While in New York City, John lost his girlfriend, and did not have the concentration to read a simple short story. It was during this time, that he at least had the capacity to read haiku. John was astounded that so much could be said in so few words. John would read haiku whenever it came his way, but then he came across several back issues of Modern Haiku at an estate sale, and slowly developed the craft for writing haiku. After several rejections slips from Bob Spiess, John gave him a call and asked for help; he said to study "juxtaposition", and if John would put together haiku that met his standards, he would gladly publish John's work; Bob kept his promise and, finally, he published four in one issue. Ferris Gilli also took John under her wing, and John has become a regular in The Heron's Nest.
haiku: "truant officer" - previously unpublished
biography
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