Photo Credit: David Redding Photography.

Mark acquired his super-powers on the day he was bitten by a radioactive baboon.

His grandfather had taken him to a petting zoo near Mark's home town of London (the other one, in Canada) and the ten-year old had been delighted to discover that there were monkeys.  The only thing that would have made him happier was the presence of pirates, but the pirate petting zoo had been forced out of business earlier that year because of all the hook-related litigation.

Shortly after his mauling by the red-assed, Old World monkey, Mark began to exhibit his new super-powers.  First mimicry, then copious hair growth, and finally, the storytelling.  All three powers drove his family crazy.

Despite these gifts, he survived the 70s and 80s.  (In fact, he is still pleasantly surprised that he was not vaporized in the mid-80s, though he never took the threat of global thermonuclear war personally, despite his encounter with the irradiated primate.)

Since then Mark has explored many storytelling media; the theatre, radio, print, and of course, the web.  He's had several plays produced, more than two dozen short stories published, and he has written two novels:  THE AMADEUS NET (ENC Press, 2005), and MARVELLOUS HAIRY (Crossing Chaos Enigmatic Ink, 2009).

His own tale is currently set in his hometown of London, Ontario (Canada).  He also works as a freelance writer and web consultant, and he teaches at The University of Western Ontario, in the Faculty of Information and Media Studies.

Notable Facts

• Has had at least five different nicknames:
  • Little Tank
  • Wally Woodcraft
  • Destruc-tor!
  • EFH (Ewok from Hel)
  • The Squire
• Holds a Master's degree (in journalism) from The University of Western Ontario (UWO) and refuses to return it
• Is a typical Gen-Xer; he even lived in Prague for a year
• Kotter-like, has returned to UWO to teach digital imaging, web design and information architecture
• Co-founder and "acting" secretary of The Emily Chesley Reading Circle, dedicated to literary scholarship and Guinness: emilychesley.com
• Member of London, Ontario's "blogging mafia" and proprietor of The Skwib: Skwib.com.
  

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