Born in NYC in 1953, learnt Russian, travelled as a kid to the USSR & became interested in Armenia. Learned the language first from high school & parochial school teachers, then Columbia, Oxford, University of London. Theses on Tlkurantsi, and on Zoroastrianism in Armenia. Also do work on epic, magical texts, modern and medieval poetry, the Narek. Interests in life: Russian literature, motorcycles.