A Wayward Academic: Reflections from the policy trenches

In 2014, I wrote Browsing through My Candy Store, a memoir of my
career attempting to master the art of public policy. That book, though
enjoying modest sales at best, was well received by my colleagues in
the academy, by those members of the public who stumbled upon this
classic, and by so-called book scouts who ferret out literary gems. That
pleased me greatly. My intent was to develop a crossover work that
might bridge both the real and the academic worlds. I tried to avoid
being so technical that the average reader risked being driven into
a deep coma while exploring some serious topics. A comatose like
demeaner is an unfortunate condition too often witnessed among my
university students, especially the undergraduates I taught in earlymorning courses. There are few greater challenges than facing social
work students who wish to be family therapists but are required to
take a policy course to graduate, a topic that they fear involves way too
many numbers.