My name is Dr. Bill Thierfelder. I hold a Ph.D. in English with minors in theater and music history. Over a 32-year period, I taught a variety of Arts and Humanities courses at several New York and Long Island universities and colleges. My classroom vocation showed me quite clearly that life is all about “making wings”--hence, the name of my website: makingwings.net. Indeed, my personal philosophy--rooted in years of practical study and just plain old life experience--is simple: The most important thing you can do is to make wings for yourself and fly to places that fulfill your potential, allow you to develop your unique gifts, and open up a world of love and friendship.
Some things about myself:
After living exclusively in the New York metropolitan area since birth, I currently reside in Portland, Oregon, with my spouse.
I retired from full-time teaching in 2010. Now, I devote my energies to being an artist/photographer, writer, lecturer, and museum docent.
As an artist/photographer, I have a commitment to the art and craft of collage, employing various media, including crayon, pencil, graphite, inks, digital photos, and oil pastels. My work has been shown at galleries in Manhattan and on Long Island since 2007.
As a writer, I publish under the name T. Richard Williams. My poetry and short stories have been published in such diverse venues as Wild Violet, Aphelion, Shadeworks, Petroglyph, American Poets and Poetry, and Lucid Stone. Three collections of verse--How the Dinosaurs Devoured the Humans, The Letter S, and Hurricane Warnings--and two volumes of short stories titled Ten and The Book of Clues are currently available as is my sci-fi novel Twelve Minutes... By going to the WRITING page on this website, you can click on links that will take you directly to each book at Amazon.com
Besides traditional classroom teaching, I also give library lectures and guide people through museums. (My library and museum schedules are available on the is website.) One of the great joys of my life has been sharing and exchanging ideas with people--so whether it's in a classroom setting, a library auditorium, or a museum hall, conversing with others about exciting works of art, literature, music, history, or science is an activity that truly gives me "wings."
I'm also a member of and donor to The Jesup Legacy Circle at The American Museum of Natural History. In addition, I always try to support a wide range of charitable organizations either financially or as a volunteer, especially those devoted to preserving Earth's environment, to protecting at-risk children around the world, and to advocating for civil equality.
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