My path has always been into the unknown with curiosity,
persistence, and intellect my guide. Fascinated by what I find, I do the research
and then set forth in another direction. I'm an explorer. I want to know what’s
where, how things got that way, and why.
My books tell of people, hidden valleys, kaleidoscopic border cultures,
and what we could learn from each other.
My perspective is unique because before exploring the Himalaya I was a computer
network pioneer, sheep farmer, management consultant, and big business executive. 
School in the English village where I grew up made me
yearn for something different. As a teenager I rejected the British system of focusing
either on science or arts. I studied Physics and English Lit, acted and
directed theater, co-founded a scurrilous magazine, and built electronic
devices. While deciding on a college major I turned to apple picking. Not an obvious
start to a career, but I met fascinating people; circus performers and refugees
from Eastern Europe. When winter came I explored clerical jobs and stumbled
upon computers. An accidental meeting led to high-end teaching for IBM, a great
way to learn but too far from the innovative center. Then a new path opened. A small
company expanding to England changed plans and I moved to the USA. Using
research that later led to the Internet I managed development of a network with
web services far ahead of their time. Few can have read more about management
or experimented as persistently as I did then, and I became a good operational
manager, but I knew little about finance and nothing about choosing markets. When
the business was disbanded and that path ended I saw I must learn strategy.
Calamity is a spur to learning. I set up as a high-tech
management consultant - that stimulates learning fast. Also, my wife and I started
a business we could operate together, a sheep farm. Temporarily heading
engineering for a startup minicomputer business led to consulting on product and
market strategy for large companies. By the time our two new babies
and my business travels made farming impractical I’d learned to see what can
and cannot succeed. I was frustrated by just advising. I joined a division of a
big company, managed multicountry software projects, and became its general manager.
Leading a business supporting a quarter billion dollars of global revenue was
fun, but later, as a Senior Vice President of the parent corporation, I found
myself in a world of palace intrigues that was much less enjoyable. It was time to move on again. Interesting though a long-established business
had been, what excited me was adventure. Leading technology operations for a
startup Internet-based travel business seemed a good next move.
This was when my wife pointed out I was no
longer young. If I really wanted to explore
the wild places and exotic cultures I’d yearned for since reading "Seven
Years in Tibet" long ago I’d better get started. So I went trekking in Iceland with one of our
by now teenage sons. Although the startup was an interesting challenge I grew
increasingly restless. At last I made
myself "retire" and got fit enough for a trip to the mountains of
Nepal. When that was canceled because
of Maoist activity John, who I’d met in Iceland, invited me to join him trekking
in Sikkim. That was the start of
my new life. After several treks and much reading about the Himalaya, I
realized my previous paths had given me a unique perspective. Most books about
the area are from the specialized viewpoint of an anthropologist, geologist,
naturalist, or mountain climber. My experience shows me different things. So I set out to write the books I wanted to read, ones combining all my
perspectives with good stories. I also started growing that long beard. Its
story includes a Tibetan lama who braided it, one who included me in his dance
because our beards matched, a jubilant Nepali who shaved his beard to celebrate
the success of his life's work to end the monarchy, and: Well, all those and many
other stories are in the books.