My Story

My parents, Raymond and Marie Fisher, are buried in a cemetery that was originally part of the old Fisher Family Farm about three miles north of Albany, Oregon. I was raised on a part of the same farm and grew up working for my uncle Floyd Fisher, who farmed the entire spread. During my High School years I imagined that some day I would be a farmer. But after December 7, 1941, we were all encouraged to remember Pearl Harbor and do all that we could in this time of crisis. In 1944 at the age of seventeen I began my service in the U. S. Marine Corps. After the war was technically over, I served as a member of the Marine Detachment on a troop ship, the U.S.S. Admiral W. S. Benson, A.P. 120. We deployed servicemen in the Pacific and returned many to our West Coast. I learned early in life about the horrors of war; the brig, the hospital ward, and the mental ward were all packed with the unlucky. I encountered many soldiers who were tired, ill, and angry. Their lives were forever changed.

In the fall of 1946, as a student on the G. I. Bill at the University of Oregon, I tried several majors but finally found my place in the history department. Professor Breen convinced me of an important truth: you cannot be a real historian if you cannot read texts in the original languages. I was fascinated by ancient East Mediterranean history, and that meant that I would have to learn many languages. After graduating from the University of Oregon, I studied Hebrew and Aramaic with Professor T. W. Nakarai at Butler University for three years and received a MA. This prepared me to study with Professor Cyrus H. Gordon at Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts where I received my PhD in 1959.

My teaching career began at Phillips University in Enid, Oklahoma. I taught there for five years before moving to Claremont, California. Ernest Cadman Colwell, President of the School of Theology, had put together an interesting group of scholars, and Dean F. Thomas Trotter was a true friend. During the Claremont years, teaching at the School of Theology and the Claremont Graduate University, I directed the Ras Shamra Parallels project at the Institute for Antiquity and Christianity. During that time, I made two trips to Israel as well as two trips to Paris where I worked with new Ugaritic texts. With all of this work came some important changes. Some of my essays on "creation" and "nature" were related to the ecological crises of the times. I was interested in world food problems and began speaking on these topics at conferences. I also moved into an "ecological" housing situation with two other families. In 1976 I resigned my position at Claremont in order to "save" a small farm.

The move to Covelo, CA in Round Valley was exciting. I was deeply influenced by the writings of Wendell Berry and was a bit idealistic concerning the farm, but I had always dreamed of farming. The first years were filled with building: houses, barns, fences, and gardens. I also managed to find time to work at a small press in Round Valley (The Yolla Bolly Press). This press published some very interesting books on ecological issues. There was more speaking, e.g., at Central Washington College, Ellensburg -A Conference on Land, Hunger, and Justice, editing, and my ranch work was always on the increase. In order to keep the ranch going, I found it necessary to do some part time teaching at several universities. In 1985 I taught Ugaritic for the Near Eastern Studies Department at UC Berkeley. By 1997 I had met my goal of saving a ranch, and it was time to sell. Since that time I have returned to research, translation, and writing to be read.

My writing during the last ten years has been creative, productive and fulfilling. I have discovered that my translations of Genesis, Job, and Egyptian stories have motivated me to inform my readers about the background of these books and stories. I realized I was so involved with these books and stories that I could suggest how and why they were written. My suggestions could not be stated as fact so I turned to fiction to paint portraits of my authors. My novels are what I call real historical novels, because my protagonists do not just stand on the stage of history; they participate in real events that can be seen as fact. The people my readers meet in these translations and novels have some great ideas, which in many cases are still waiting to be tried. The human situations do change, but humans have not changed much in the last 3500 years.

I have put some of these thoughts about my journey in the following lines:

Extending My Horizons

I grew up on a on a small farm.
It was three miles from a small town.
As a boy I had traveled to the Deep South,
To Sun Valley, and to San Francisco.

I attended a one-room school with eight grades.
My High School was also small.
As I look back, it is clear;
I did not know much about our world.

I knew how to work with animals,
And I could tend a garden.
I enjoyed music and playing in a band,
But I did not know much about other people.

I was sheltered not by design but by circumstance.
1944, my senior year in High School, was crucial.
We had to join up or be drafted.
Most of my close friends joined the Navy.

Four of us joined the Marines! We were seventeen.
Time in the Marine Corps opened my eyes.
There is a big world out there to behold,
And it was filled with strange people and greed.

O yes, there were also some with talent,
And I met a few good souls by the way.
I still had a lot to learn about life at sea.
Why did all the black sailors work in the galley?

After the Marine Corps there was college.
Yes, my horizons had been extended,
But how did things evolve to their present state?
I was lured into the History Department.

I had to find answers to all my questions.
Professor Breen said, "Original texts were a must."
This meant that many languages were required.
Languages also help to extend horizons.

Professor Nakarai was next with Hebrew and Aramaic.
Then came Cyrus Gordon with Ugaritic
Along with Akkadian and Egyptian.
Reading ancient texts opened my eyes.

Most historians do not control the texts.
They never see new ideas from ancient times.
One does not go looking for new ideas,
Rather, one needs to work hard and be surprised.

I have always been in the minority;
Life is sometimes lonely on the edge.
But standing there gives one a view.
You can see problems that plague our world.

I found myself at ecology conferences;
I was concerned about the need for food,
And adequate water was another item.
I gave up my professorship and became a rancher.

From classroom to a ranch, twenty years in each,
A ranch was saved but at great cost.
Yet, it was a great moment filled with sadness and joy.
Now, I write about great moments and minority opinions.

I have had a good time bringing to light The Rebel Job.
This poem was buried in the Book of Job.
It exposed the righteous fundamentalists,
Whose God demanded fear and obedience.

The Rebel gave humans freedom:
Free from a God who did not exist,
Free from searching for his justice,
And free to enjoy, to help and to care.

If you are interested, you can review my complete Curriculum Vitae.