Author, educator, and politician. Education: University of California, Los Angeles, B.A; Stanford University, M.A., Ph.D.
Career: University of California, Los Angeles, professor of English since 1989; Word for Word Theatre Company, chairman since 1995. Chief of Federated Coast Miwok Tribe, Santa Rosa, CA, 1993-94, 1994-95. He has worked as a consultant for the Turner Broadcasting System on California Indians, and as a co-executive producer of the Home Box Office miniseries adaptation of his Grand Avenue, 1996.
Writings by the author: Keeping Slug Woman Alive: A Holistic Approach to American Indian Texts, University of California (Berkeley), 1993; Mabel McKay: Weaving the Dream, University of California, 1994. Editor and contributor: The Sound of Rattles and Clappers: A Collection of New California Indian Writing, University of Arizona (Tucson, AZ), 1994; Grand Avenue (short stories), Hyperion (New York City), 1994; Watermelon Nights: A Novel, Hyperion, 1998. Media adaptations: Grand Avenue was adapted for television and aired on the HBO cable network, 1996. Awards: Recipient Award for best screenplay, Santa Fe Film Festival, 1996; American Indian Film Festival award, 1996; Best Reads Award, California Indian Booksellers, 1996.
