I as born and raised in Yokohama, Japan, where my family has lived since 1869. I worked as Tokyo correspondent for Business Week in the early 1980s and for the Los Angeles Times in the early 1990s. It was during my assignment with the Los Angeles Times that I adopted two Japanese children and began the research that would result in the publication of my upcoming book: Yokohama Yankee.: My Family's Five Generations as Outsiders in Japan

I graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with a B.A. in political science and an M.A. in Asian studies. I attended the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism on a U.S. Japan Friendship Commission fellowship. I am currently editor of Seattle Business magazine.