Hilton ObenzingerHilton Obenzinger writes poetry, fiction, history, and criticism, such as essays on American Holy Land travel, the history of California, Mark Twain, Herman Melville, and American cultural interactions with the Middle East. His books include ThisPassover or the Next I Will Never be in Jerusalem, which received the American Book Award, Cannibal Eliot and the Lost Histories of San Francisco, American Palestine: Melville, Twain and the Holy Land Mania, New York on Fire, and the oral history Running through Fire: How I Survived the Holocaust by Zosia Goldberg. Recently, he has published his autobiographical novel BUSY DYING (Chax Press, 2008) and How We Write: The Varieties of Writing Experience. Born in Brooklyn, he graduated Columbia University in 1969, taught nursery and elementary school, ran an offset press at a community print shop in San Francisco's Mission District, worked as a commercial writer for business and industry, and taught writing, literature and American Studies at Stanford University. He is currently Associate Director of the Chinese Railroad Workers in North America project. Read More Read Less