I grew up in a political household. My mom took me to the 1972 Democratic Convention, where she was an alternate delegate, and I was 2 years old. There is a picture of me in the Daily News reading the paper at the convention - they thought it was amazing that I could read at that age. My dad was a political scientist and historian, and my mom, after being a district leader and working for a Congressman for a while, worked intensively on the first Ed Koch campaign for mayor. She ended up as a city administrator through the Koch, Dinkins, Giuliani, and Bloomberg administrations, and even now serves on the city Landmarks Commission.

My dad's interest in history led him also into gaming. We had old hexmap board games simulating the battle of Austerlitz and literally dozens of other battles and wars. When my brother and I grew old enough he invited us into the world of gaming, first into board games and then, after purchasing a copy of Chainmail, into basic D&D and a host of roleplaying games.

I always showed an interest in writing. In day care I was the only kid who was unable to take a midday nap, but they quickly learned they could quiet me with a book. In first grade when other kids were learning the alphabet (and I was proud of the fact that I had read the Hobbit eight times, and the Silmarillion once), the teacher figured out a way to engage me and keep me occupied by giving me assignments to write one-page stories each day instead of what was for me exhausting rote repetition of a skill I had already learned. When I was able to in high school I took creative writing classes, and studied under Frank McCourt (who was not famous yet, except at Stuyvesant for being an excellent teacher). I continued taking courses in literature and writing at Vassar, and I have never lost the love for it.

After college, though, I came back to the city and worked in politics for a while. I was youth coordinator for Mark Green's first campaign, and went to high schools to recruit volunteers and explain to them what political campaigns were like (I had been doing things like leafletting since I was very small). After Mark won, I was recruited by the Ollie Koppell reelection campaign, who had me do some statistics work for them. While I was doing that I was recruited by a band I had loved in college, Sick Little Monkey, who had been trying to make it in Austin and had lost their guitarist.

My extended family, with whom I am close, is full of musicians. My grandfather, Jim Chapin, was a celebrated jazz drummer who wrote a book many jazz drummers regard as a bible. My uncles Harry, Tom, and Steve, were professional musicians - Harry's 'Cat's in the Cradle' is widely known. My cousins Jen, Abigail, Lily, and Jessica, all have done the music thing. So when I discussed the idea with my dad about moving off to Texas and joining a band, his advice was to do it. He said I was young and still could do such things, and might always wonder about it if I didn't do it. The advice was largely spot on.

The band later returned to New York, and I got a job as the Executive Director of NYC Americans for Democratic Action, which I kept at for eight years. Though I care about politics and enjoyed the writing aspect of it, actually *working* in politics is emotionally exhausting. When your side loses you feel bad about it, but then you have to go to work and feel bad about it too. I have continued to write about politics for my friends, who treasure my advice, but I don't feel a need to return to politics itself.

I learned a few years back that NYU was starting up a Masters' program in Game Design, and decided to apply for it. There were only 19 of us that got in that first year, and the program was tough and rigorous, but really made me think more carefully about design. It also taught me skills like programming, which I hadn't done since BASIC was a thing. I often joke that I might be the oldest human with a Masters' in game design, since I was in on the ground floor and was much older than my peers in the program. Unsurprisingly I enjoy crafting narrative and strategy games the most, which play into my interests in writing and history.

I am continuing to pursue a number of projects. I am still writing games, and trying slowly to write a book. I am also starting to write down some of my life stories - while I don't envision myself as being as successful as a David Sedaris, I do have a number of interesting tales, if I can find the way to express them well enough.