Have you ever stopped to wonder what events have greatly influenced the shape of your present life and character? I am not talking about long-term trends (your influences as a child; your overall education), but specific events. I have thought considerably about that, and at least 9 such events are obvious:

1. Dec 26, 1962: This was the day I found an issue of Worlds of IF in my Christmas stocking. Prior to that morning, all the science fiction I had ever read had been young adult, such as the Tom Swift, Jr. books. Suddenly my entire world opened up, and it is fair to state that love of reading and writing science fiction has been the most prominent influence in my life.

2. June-July 1972: I spent six weeks that summer attending the Clarion West science fiction writing workshop, and proceeded to devote the next 15 years of my life to writing science fiction every available moment when I was not studying/working. I am still writing science fiction, even moreso now in my retirement than at anytime since the mid-1980s when I de-emphasized writing fiction in order to write more nonfiction.

3. 1971-1973: Graduate School was the first time when I actually achieved academically what I had always been capable of previously but had mostly underachieved. It was also the first time I made friends. The combination of the two events actually developed a bit of my self-confidence for the first time in my life.

4. July 7, 1979: This was my wedding day, and it is hard to conceive what my life would possibly have been like without Jean as a major part of it.

5. July 26, 1983 / June 12, 1985: These were the births of Andy and Mark. Since these dates, most of my life has revolved around my family, and nearly every moment of it has been enjoyable. It is safe to say that my family life has been one constant stream of pleasure.

6. November 1994: Until this time I had never realized that a student could also become a friend, and I have been extremely fortunate that one of my students has become my surrogate daughter who is not only close to me but also to my entire family. I have been close friends with her longer than any other friend I ever had, and there is no reason to assume this friendship will not continue the rest of my life.

7. March 2000 / Jan 2002: This was the publication of my two books Who Shaped Science Fiction? and Nanking 1937: Memory and Healing, after thirty years of feeling like be a failure. The first publication validated my success as a writer, while the second validated my success as an academic, another area where I had feared that I was a failure.

8. July 10, 2009: This was Mark’s wedding, and it serves as the turning point in my (and Jean’s) life from raising a family to that family becoming friends developing their own lives and families. Kate is a wonderful daughter-in-law and I am very pleased she is a member of my family now whom I am slowly getting to know better.

9. June 11, 2010: I have realized since 1994 how much I love my students, but even though many of them spent endless hours with me in the Math Lab, and have stayed in touch with me after graduation, I was never sure how they really felt about me. That all changed this day when two amazing things happened:
• 80 of my students wore tee-shirts with my picture during the school day;
• 90 students threw a surprise retirement party for me that evening.

I've obviously had a very good life so far; hopefully the fortune I got recently at a Chinese buffet will prove true. It stated: You are going to have a very comfortable old age. While I have certainly not entered "old age" yet, I look forward to that prediction coming true in another 10-20-30 years!