My name is Don MacLaren, and my photo is above. Once upon a time I had hair down past my shoulders.
              I am a graduate of UC Berkeley, where I got a BA in English in 1990, and was a member of the Honor Students' Society.  I am also a graduate of City College of San Francisco, where I was chosen as valedictorian of the class of 1988 because of my high GPA.
              In addition, I am a US Navy veteran and, along with my shipmates on the USS Coral Sea (CV-43), received the Navy Expeditionary Medal.  The reason we got this medal was not because we were in combat (we weren't), but because of our work during the Iranian Hostage Crisis, off the coast of Iran.  We were involved in the failed rescue attempt of April, 1980.  We thought we were going to war with Iran, but we wrong.  Instead of going to war we spent 102 days at sea, without hitting a port.
              Later though, Iran did go to war with another country: Iraq.  So, we supported Iraq.  And the rest, as they say, is history (after more than a million deaths).
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              In 1991 I went to Japan to live.  My reasons for moving to Japan were a combination of wanderlust and a strong desire to learn about another culture while studying another language.  I thought this would put me in a good, competitive position in the job market.  I also moved to Japan because I thought doing so would give me passage to another world I'd never experienced, what I thought might be my promised land.
              Things didn't work out that way.  But I did learn a lot about Japanese culture, and learned the Japanese language well enough to work at a trading company in Tokyo as a translator and writer.
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             When I was a kid I tried digging a hole to China with my friends.  We never made it, but I came close later, when I went to Japan.  I was confronted with some big problems in Japan that almost took my life away.  I'm still alive though, and proud of it.
              I've written about some of the experiences I had in Japan, and some of what I've written has been published.  They don't give any medals for the kinds of things I went through in Japan, even though they were much worse than what the Navy awarded me a medal for.
              Because I thought you might be interested in some of the stories I have to tell I've put some of my writing on this website.  After you've read some of it you can judge for yourself if you would have done differently than I, whether you need to read more before you answer, or whether you don't care.  Don't worry, I plan to be here awhile, so you can take your time if there's something you want to say to me.
              The writing on this website includes descriptions of some of the things I went through in Japan, some articles I wrote before moving to Japan, some of my comments on history and literature, and some chunks of autobiographical food for thought with a little poetry added as spice.  What I have on the website is only a sampling though.  I own over a hundred thousand words that are working themselves into a book right now.  One day, after they have incubated for a while they'll come kicking and screaming into the world.
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              This website is a work in progress and will be updated periodically.  If there's something you want to say you can e-mail me at: dmaclaren@rocketmail.com. Then, if and when I have something to say to you, I'll e-mail you back.
              Oh, and just for the hell of it, I put my resume on here too.

     Please be advised that:     
     1: If you wish to use or quote anything on this website that has not yet been published, 
         you must obtain my permission to do so.
     2: For published material you must properly cite the source, including my name.
     3: Everything on this website is copyrighted - whether it has been published previously or not.