About Eben
Like you, I am a complicated being of light and darkness, multifaceted and changing. I use writing, meditation, and music to explore the interface between my own internal landscape and the rest of the universe, where real magic blossoms into existence, composed of endless shades of dark and light.
(Auto) Bio
I spent most of my childhood in the woods along a dirt road leading to the top of Knox Mountain in rural New Hampshire. The forest surrounding our house and garden always seemed limitless - both in physical space--I could follow a river all day and never reach the end--and in terms of pure imaginative possibility. There, among the trees, I lived a thousand stories in my mind. The school I attended from 3rd through 12th grade, being located on a neighboring mountain, served as a remarkable extension to that boundlessness. Sant Bani School was founded on the astonishingly profound philosophies of Sant Maat (translated, ‘the path of the masters’), a spiritual practice originating in India, which has served as the alpha and omega of all that is right and good in my life. To leave out mention of my teacher, Sant Ajaib Singh Ji, would be to ignore the primary source of inspiration both in my writing and in my way of thinking.
After graduating from Connecticut College with a BA in cultural anthropology, I worked for the Appalachian Mountain Club as a backcountry host and educator in the White Mountains, and then hiked the length of the Appalachian Trail, where I learned the value of being alone with nature--which is to say, not alone at all. On that life-changing journey I met my wife, Dawn, and consecrated my relationship with the natural world in rivers and rain.
It wasn’t until I was hired as a teacher at Evergreen Community Charter School in Asheville NC that I discovered the important connection between education and the natural world. At Evergreen, experiential learning, environmental stewardship, and a focus on social justice, fostered my appreciation for the inquisitiveness and boundless potential of children. As an additional perk, my 3rd grade students, year after year, listened (with enthusiasm, I might add) to me read aloud from various renditions of my then-incomplete novel – my first test audiences. Before long, the remarkable Chris Weaver was hired as my co-teacher. Chris not only collaborated with me to create mind-expanding learning experiences for our students, but he was my dear, dear friend. Before he died in September of 2017, Chris self-published an inspirational memoir, The Heart of the Canoe, for which I had the great honor to provide both content counsel and primary editing support. I miss him so very much.
To 'bring home the vegetables these days, I’m doing project management and construction with an excellent little company called Spoke Building Arts.
And, of course, I'm still writing.
I spent most of my childhood in the woods along a dirt road leading to the top of Knox Mountain in rural New Hampshire. The forest surrounding our house and garden always seemed limitless - both in physical space--I could follow a river all day and never reach the end--and in terms of pure imaginative possibility. There, among the trees, I lived a thousand stories in my mind. The school I attended from 3rd through 12th grade, being located on a neighboring mountain, served as a remarkable extension to that boundlessness. Sant Bani School was founded on the astonishingly profound philosophies of Sant Maat (translated, ‘the path of the masters’), a spiritual practice originating in India, which has served as the alpha and omega of all that is right and good in my life. To leave out mention of my teacher, Sant Ajaib Singh Ji, would be to ignore the primary source of inspiration both in my writing and in my way of thinking.
After graduating from Connecticut College with a BA in cultural anthropology, I worked for the Appalachian Mountain Club as a backcountry host and educator in the White Mountains, and then hiked the length of the Appalachian Trail, where I learned the value of being alone with nature--which is to say, not alone at all. On that life-changing journey I met my wife, Dawn, and consecrated my relationship with the natural world in rivers and rain.
It wasn’t until I was hired as a teacher at Evergreen Community Charter School in Asheville NC that I discovered the important connection between education and the natural world. At Evergreen, experiential learning, environmental stewardship, and a focus on social justice, fostered my appreciation for the inquisitiveness and boundless potential of children. As an additional perk, my 3rd grade students, year after year, listened (with enthusiasm, I might add) to me read aloud from various renditions of my then-incomplete novel – my first test audiences. Before long, the remarkable Chris Weaver was hired as my co-teacher. Chris not only collaborated with me to create mind-expanding learning experiences for our students, but he was my dear, dear friend. Before he died in September of 2017, Chris self-published an inspirational memoir, The Heart of the Canoe, for which I had the great honor to provide both content counsel and primary editing support. I miss him so very much.
To 'bring home the vegetables these days, I’m doing project management and construction with an excellent little company called Spoke Building Arts.
And, of course, I'm still writing.
The Book of Eben
Here you will find a photo journal of parts of my life, compiled by my talented step-father, photographer, and graphic designer, Todd Smith. This online book serves as a more expansive visual companion to my bio story above. Enjoy!
Here you will find a photo journal of parts of my life, compiled by my talented step-father, photographer, and graphic designer, Todd Smith. This online book serves as a more expansive visual companion to my bio story above. Enjoy!