Biosketch

Wm. Boletta Photo

Born in Memphis, Tennessee, I have lived in thirteen different states in the USA and in several foreign countries.

In college I studied music and foreign languages. I originally wanted to be a composer, but I also loved languages, so I wound up with a double major in Music and German with a minor in French. I was fortunate to study composition with Arthur Kreuz, who won the Prix de Rome. My senior year, the university orchestra played a composition of mine in their spring concert. Going to college was a peak experience for me. I loved to read and study, and that is, after all, what students do. I felt as if I had died and gone to heaven.

Freiburg im Breisgau

My college had an exchange program, and I received a grant to study abroad in Germany during my junior year at Albert-Ludwigs Universität in Freiburg im Breisgau, in the heart of the Black Forest, a charming medieval city with a famous cathedral and medieval gates still standing.

I went on to graduate school, got my Master's degree in foreign languages, and then taught German and French for a few years in the South. But I was fascinated by the excitement of New York City. I wanted more than anything to live in Manhattan and work in the publishing industry.

It was a dream that came true: I had the great good fortune to get a job as an in-house editor at the famous Charles Scribner’s Sons, publishers of Hemingway and Scott Fitzgerald. Going to work in the elegant Beaux-Arts Scribner Building on Fifth Avenue, designed in 1913 by James Flagg, was the icing on my cake.

Library of Congress
Later, I got my doctorate in languages and returned to teaching, but my growing interest in information technology prompted me to study Library and Information Studies. After getting my M.S.L.S in Washington, DC, I trained and worked at the Library of Congress as a librarian and information specialist. Speaking of buildings, the Library of Congress is an architechtural treasure. Italian artisans brought in from the old country executed the detailed interior by by hand and produced a real masterpiece of style. Here is the magnificent Reading Room.
Golden Gate Bridge

San Francisco became my adopted home, and I lived and worked there for several years, but adventure called me to see more of the world. Teaching English abroad would afford me that opportunity.

I decided to start with a year in Japan, but the year or so I had originally planned to stay in Japan turned out to be well over a decade. I still live in Tokyo, where I taught English for many years at Senshu University and am now Professor Emeritus of English.

The magic of technology still holds me in its spell. The iPod, the iPhone, and the iPad have transformed my life yet again. I still read voluminously, and with my Kindle installed on mobile devices, I can carry a huge library with me everywhere.

Tokyo House

I have a good life living in a roomy new house in the heart of Tokyo and driving my brand new Nissan March. My many projects keep me busy, but I take time to relax with friends over dinner and enjoy some of the endless gustatory treats that Tokyo offers. I never imagined life could be so satisfying and enjoyable.