I'm from Portland, Oregon, although I also lived briefly in Tacoma and Seattle. I am the fourth of six children, which means I didn't have a name until I was in my early teens. (On the left is my family in 1949, three years before I was born. I'm in the middle in the photo on the right, maybe eight years old.) My mother was a high school teacher who did a valiant job of raising her children alone after a divorce. In high school I was a distracted student dedicated to other matters than studying, although I read books and wrote on scraps of paper, thankfully now lost. After graduating from high school in 1970 I delayed college, mostly because those of my friends in the university were living painlessly and thoughtlessly and school didn't seem worth doing until I could do it right. I tried to familiarize myself with the world by actually working a series of common jobs: in a shoe store, a peanut butter factory, a tire retread factory, and in a job where I cut trees and brush for the state. Then in 1972 I left with a close friend, Tom Tarter, and hitchhiked down the West Coast, across the South, up to DC, flew to Britain, hitchhiked around there, hitchhiked in Europe, and then Tom and I got jobs together in Frankfurt, Germany where we stayed and worked for almost a year. While there we hitchhiked and drove with friends around Europe. When I returned to the U.S. I finally wanted to go to college and I was on fire for it. Bearing an undistinguished high school record I began at Pacific University in Oregon for a year, and then transferred to Reed College for my final three years. (See my 1974 food card at left) During one summer at Reed I worked in a lumber mill (where I pulled green chain), and then I worked for two summers in a tarpaper plant (Bird and Son) where I drove a forklift. I received my BA in economic thought from Reed College in 1977, and the following year I worked for the Oregon Student Public Interest Research Group (OSPIRG), the first of Ralph Nader's PIRG groups, as an environmental economist.

In 1978 I moved to New York City, enrolled in the history graduate program at Columbia University, studied U.S. intellectual history, and got my MA in 1979. I stayed in New York a short time longer and, among other jobs, worked at the Nation magazine as an intern. In 1981 I moved to Boston, lived on the back side of Beacon Hill, and entered the History of American Civilization Program at Harvard. There, under the guidance of Daniel Aaron, Alan Brinkley, and Donald Fleming, I continued my study of U.S. intellectual history. I received an AM in history at Harvard in 1983, and a PhD in the History of American Civilization in 1987. At Harvard I served as a teaching assistant in History during 1982-83, and in History and Literature from 1983 to 1986. In the year 1986-87 I was an Instructor in History and Literature, and from 1987 to 1990 I taught as a Lecturer in History and Literature. While at Harvard I was lucky enough to become involved in the house system, and fortunate enough to be connected to Dunster House (photo at left) where I lived and occasionally taught a course. At Dunster I was a resident tutor from 1985 to 1988, and served as a non-resident tutor during the years 1984-85 and 1988-90.

In the fall of 1990 I began teaching as an assistant professor in the history department at Florida State University. In 1993 I was promoted to associate professor, then in 1998 I became professor of history. In 2000, Florida State created 20 named professorships, for which there was a university-wide competition. In the spring of 2000 I was named the William Warren Rogers Professor of History. In the fall of 2002 I became chair of the department. At any one time I usually have from 6 to 10 graduate students (masters and doctoral) for whom I serve as major professor. I have graduated 8 PhDs in History at FSU and have several more in the pipeline. From 1991 to 2007 I was on the advisory board of the American Studies program, for which I also taught occasional courses and served as major professor for masters students. Since 2007, when Humanities moved from being a program to department, I've been on the Advisory Board of the Americanist track there, and since the early 1990s I have served frequently as major professor for masters or doctoral students in the Humanities. Thus far I have graduated 3 PhD students in Humanities. I also serve on the Advisory Board Interdisciplinary Social Science program and graduated students in that department. While at Florida State I have received two Teaching Incentive Program (TIP) Awards, a University Teaching Award, and was named the Phi Alpha Theta (FSU chapter) professor of the year in 1995-96.