I am a former newspaper and wire service journalist who has been writing professionally for 40 years - although today I do mostly satire, fiction, and short articles.

While working in the US, I specialized in covering politics, state-level government, and the judiciary.

I moved to Israel in 1979 and now have dual citizenship.

I am a Vietnam veteran who also served 15 years in the Israeli Army reserves (30 days active duty yearly). In the 1982 war, before I became an Israeli soldier, I went into Lebanon as a journalist. I was in Israel during the 1991 missile attacks by Iraq and my home is on the Israeli-Lebanese border, where I lived through 5 weeks of crossfire in 2006. These experiences have taught me clearly both the necessity to be prepared for war and the desirability of achieving peace.

Having majored in history, I now serve as a site steward for Helium's history channels.

My passion is ...

travel.

I know too much about ...

about nothing - and doubt that it is possible to know too much about anything.

My parents always told me ...

"cut it out!"

My childhood ambition ...

changed on an almost daily basis.

My favorite memory ...

holding my child for the first time.

Why I write ...

to live, both in the physical and emotional meanings.

What I am reading/watching/listening to ...

whatever happened to catch my eye when I last entered a book shop.

My first job ...

delivering fruits and vegetables on my bicycle.

My best moment ...

is, hopefully, yet to come.

My inspiration ...

Tomorrow.

Computers & Technology > Internet Trends Testimonies: How the Internet can bring friendship across hostile borders

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On July 12, 2006, at 10:53 AM, explosions rattled my house on the Israeli side of the Lebanese border, touching off both a war and a very close friendship - with someone who was supposed to be "the enemy".

Perhaps prophetically, I was on the internet when those rockets landed, posting on a bulletin board for frequent flyers. Under the user name of "Dovster", I wrote "Within the last few minutes eight Katyusha rockets were shot in my general direction (they sounded like they were very close)." Before I had even finished the post, I had an update:

"The Army just sent us SMSs telling u...

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