I research, write and lecture on topics relevant to folklore and oral history. My specialties include belief systems, occupational folklife, community-based traditions, and oral history. I've spent the past thirty years as an independent scholar in Rhode Island. l was awarded a Ph.D. in Folklore from Indiana University, Bloomington; my dissertation topic was African-American voodoo practices. I have an M.A. in Folklore and Mythology from the University of California at Los Angeles, and a B.A. in Anthropology and Archaeology from the University of Arizona, Tucson. l was the Consulting Folklorist at the Rhode Island Historical Preservation & Heritage Commission, Providence, Rhode Island, for twenty-five years. I have also taught courses in folklore, English, and anthropology at several colleges and universities. I now split their my between Rhode Island and Texas. The second edition of my book, Food for the Dead: On the Trail of New England's Vampires (with a new Preface), will be published my Wesleyan University Press in October 2011. I currently am writing a second book on America's authentic vampire tradition.