When I began writing, I didn't read any other children's poets... I didn't want to be influenced until I'd found my own voice. Now I read them all.

"
He attended local public schools in the Bronx hated the experience and was bored in class. Before becoming a writer he worked odd jobs including driving a cab moving furniture busboy potter woodworker and door-to-door salesman. Phoenix AZ: Oryx Press.

He lives in Seattle Washington with his wife Carolynn.