Background
He was born on February 14, 1929 in Wenatchee, Washington State, and served with the United States Air Force from 1946-1949.
He was born on February 14, 1929 in Wenatchee, Washington State, and served with the United States Air Force from 1946-1949.
He received a Bachelor degree, magna cum laude, from the University of Washington, and subsequently earned an Master of Arts in Japanese history and a Doctor of Philosophy in Japanese literature from the same university.
In 1969 he became founding chairman of the department of Asian Languages and Literature at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. In addition to teaching Japanese language and literature, he taught Japanese culture, scientific Japanese, science fiction and sometimes Chinese literature. He also completed a biography of Shimazaki Toson, The Kiso Road: The Life and Times of Shimazaki Toson.
His translation of the 8-volume historical novel by Shiba Ryotaro, A Wisp of Cloud (Saka no Ue no Kumo), which tells the story of Japan from the Meiji Restoration to the Russo-Japanese War and Japan"s emergence on the world stage, was uncompleted at his death.