Born and raised in Alaska to adventurous parents, who left the dry, flat panhandle of west Texas in their late 60s mustang and drove the Alaska-Canada Highway on a whim with no employment and no family waiting their arrival, I gained a questing, independent, march-to-my-own-drummer streak early on. And a Gypsy soul to travel the world, meeting all sorts of people in their slice of life and thrilling at the discovery of the new, different and foreign. I completed quite a bit of schooling, including an M.D. from the University of WA before I figured out that what I do now is a good place for me to be.