Dean
Dean was born in Hartford, Connecticut. He moved to Portland in his mid-twenties, and stayed in Middletown for a couple of years as well. Now he lives in Chester, which has been his home since 1985.
Dean worked at the Connecticut Department of Social Services for 11 years, the Town of Cromwell for 6, and the Town of Portland for 9. He now works for the Town of Essex.
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Dean is a writer by nature, and spent much of his free time developing his writing skills. He has written a few book-length manuscripts, a couple of plays, numerous articles for Middlesex Magazine, a monthly newsletter for the Town of Portland, and the content for numerous web sites.
Becoming a professional writer is not easy, and so he dedicated the last few years to learning the intricacies of web site design. He thought this would provide a vehicle to market his writing skills. Having worked for municipal social services for so long, he is well-versed with writing for non-profit agencies and towns.
He took a few classes in graphic design at Middlesex College, two CIW courses, and about 20 web related courses at New Horizons. The above photo was taken at a digital camera course by his teacher, who was examining Dean's new camera and decided to take a picture without warning (he does not like posing for pictures).
Dean has a variety of interests. He used to draw quite well in pencil, but never took it seriously. Writing is his passion. For most of his adult life, he was also involved in the martial arts, non-classical gung-fu to be more specific, and still practices three or four times a week, retianing some of the skills from his youth. He also practices the long sword fighting techniques of di Leberi and Leichtenbach. For quite a while he studied theology and philosophy, and accumulated a library of books on the subjects. His favorite theologians are Teilhard de Chardin and Paul Tillich. He then turned to Taoism for philosphical insight. Hearing Joseph Campbell speak about mythology drew him back to western thought. Studying both Krishnamurti and medieval literature, he grew to appreciate the struggles and importance of the individual in pursuit of truth.
In 2006, he launched the Chivalry-Now website, which slowly attracted a readership from as far away as China, Australia, Italy and South Africa. Its open forum has attracted an international membership of committed people. In 2010, he published his first book, Chivalry-Now, The Code of Male Ethics. This was followed in 2012 by The Deeper Quest. After reading his first book, one fellow came all the way from Colorado to shake his hand.
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He enjoys nature, especially sitting in his gazebo at night during the summer, when various frogs fill the air with their cocophony of song.
Lynne is the love of his life. In the years that they've been together they have never argued even once. They enjoy each other's intellect, insights and sense of humor. Dean especially enjoys quiet times with Lynne, and loves taking her out to their favorite restaurants. They escape each fall (off season) to Cape Cod for their vacation, where the small cottage has no TV, no computer, and overlooks the bay.
Dealing with a variety of people in social services, he prefers to avoid trouble in his personal life, but will fight to the end if the cause is just.
Favorite movies:
- Kingdom of Heaven (Director's Cut is best)
- Tristan and Isolde
- John Adams (HBO series)
- Mahabharatta
- Last of the Mohegans
- Sherlock Holmes (Robert Downey's)
- Sherlock Holmes (Jeremy Brett's series)
- Brother Sun, Sister Moon
- Excaliber
- Gandhi
- Jesus of Nazareth
- Lord of the Rings trilogy
- 300
- Scarlet Letter
- Troy
- Warlord
- Camelot
- Bram Stoker's Dracula
- The Wolfman (latest version)