Chris is a true native New Yorker. Born and raised in the resplendent surroundings of the Stuyvesant Town housing project, he attended Stuyvesant High School where fortune assigned him to Frank (Angela’s Ashes) McCourt’s English class. Chris dabbled with living in the outer boroughs, but always returned to Manhattan. After half a century in New York City, (ultimately too crowded, too expensive, and a shadow of its former self) he left, spending three months in Paris (the most beautiful place in the world) and then settling in Burlington (also beautiful).

Chris’s professional life in New York included working at the only public pistol range in Manhattan, tuning and repairing the pipe organ at St. John the Divine cathedral, designing book interiors, producing print advertising, and programming computers – from mainframes on Wall Street to the infant stages of the Internet. To make up for this dull, one-track career path, Chris has engaged in bouts of volunteerism and activism: restoring ships at South Street Seaport, earning a commendation from the NYC Auxiliary Police and demonstrating with ACTUP.

Chris is a serious student of the piano and his rare public appearances (it’s nerve-wracking) have spanned the gamut of music: solo classical recitals, jam sessions at jazz clubs, and once substituting for Joan Rivers’ pianist (she’s really charming offstage).

These days, if he’s not in front of a keyboard, you can find Chris guzzling coffee somewhere downtown with his nose stuck in a book. Feel free to buy him a second cup.