My wife and partner, Prof. Dagmar Sternad, for her exuberant love and friendship,
and for "daring these days to stay with us for all our years".
My parents, Peter and Patricia Almond, for their perennial examples of kindness
and support, and to Chris and Matt Almond for being the caring brothers that they are.
My poetry mentors: notably Tom Daley and Nadia Colburn, for guiding my writing
into new spaces, for their commitment to their craft, and for welcoming me into their
homes in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Prof. Robert Pinsky at Boston University for
composing the "Art of Poetry", and Prof. Elisa New at Harvard University for creating
"Poetry in America". The members of the Boston Athenaeum's Poetry Discussion Group,
notably Creelea Pangaro for her kind and thoughtful leadership, and more so for
her friendship.
Prof. Misha Stojanovic at Northeastern University for winding a path between
Electrical Engineering and Poetry, and for sharing the jewels of her journey.
David Marks, Lecturer at the Ludwig Maximillian University of Munich, Germany,
for his inspirational love of language and art. John Galton, Varsha Kukafka,
Hannah Morrell, Beverly Shafer, Mid Walsh and many others with whom I have
exchanged lines of prose and poetry.
The members of the Boston Athenaeum's Shakespeare Discussion Group for their
appreciation of the Bard; Clive Martin for his illuminating docent-led tours;
John Buchtel, Curator of Rare Books and Head of Special Collections, for his
knowledge on all matters related to the world of books.
Swansea University for its long embrace, and to Prof. Ralph Griffiths and
Prof. Valerie Minogue for their mentorship and academic inspiration. To my
university peers, particularly Prof. Bakthan Singarem, who carved his path to
the University of California, Santa Cruz. Cranfield University, to its dedicated
faculty and to my fellow students, notably Prof. Helen Drake at the University
of Loughborough, for her lasting friendship.
The many business and non-profit leaders that I have worked with across Europe,
the Americas and Asia, and for the vistas that have made their way into these poems.
Scott Vile of Ascensius Press for overseeing the design, printing and production
of my first book of poetry. Rak Lokesh Ph.D. for developing this website.
To those for whom I have unfortunately run out of space — thank you!