Family Photos 2001

I was happy, confident, and a perhaps a bit German-looking (e.g., haircut)
when I returned from my Fulbright year in Germany in August 2001. I visited my mother
in Poughkeepsie for a few days before plunging back to life in South Carolina. I had
decided to change careers, though I didn't have all the details worked out yet.

Here I am, newly arrived, with a German haircut, from my Fulbright year in Germany, in August, 2001. I am standing in front of my mother's house in Poughkeepsie, where I was visiting for a few days before my plunge back to life in South Carolina. During my year there, I had confirmed my decision to change careers and go into some computer-related field, but I hadn't yet worked all the details out.

My son Blake, who was born in 1977, towers over me at 6 feet 2 inches. It is nice when
people think that this blond, blue-eyed hunk and I are brothers rather than father
and son. We stood in front of my mother's house in the sun to get photographed.

My son Blake and I at my mother's house in Poughkeepsie, NY — winter, 2001. Born on 4 May 1977, Blake was 24 at the time of this photograph. At 6'2", he is the blond, blue-eyed hunk on the left who towers over me, the "little" guy on the right. Unfortunately, I cannot inherit his stature. He, however, has inherited my interest in music, though taken it in a different direction, achieving some beginnings of success as a rock guitarist.

Blake graduated at the end of the previous year, 2000, from my alma mater, Columbia University, where he majored in a combination of economics and philosophy. He has more recently developed marked signs of Japanophilia, having taught himself Japanese and sojourned in Japan for a few months in the fall of 2002. He hopes to return to Japan soon, but, eventually, to study international law back in the US.