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My name is Lionel Deimel, and I live in
Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania, a suburb of
Pittsburgh. I am a computer scientist,
writer, and musician who is presently a private consultant. Somewhat to my
surprise, I have also become an Episcopal Church activist. Most of my
professional time is taken up with training and with database and Web site design
and maintenance. I am still looking for that perfect position that needs my
special combination of computer, logical, and communications skills.
I was born and reared in
New Orleans,
Louisiana, did my undergraduate work at
the University of Chicago in physics,
and earned my M.S. and Ph.D. at Georgia
Tech in information and computer science. I have taught computer science at
Georgia Tech, North Carolina State University,
and Allegheny College. At the
Software Engineering Institute (SEI), I promoted software engineering as an
academic discipline, which was a natural career move, given my longstanding
interest in computer science education. Over the years, I pursued research in
automata theory, computational complexity, computer graphics, and human-computer
interaction, with occasional excursions in odd directions, such as recreational
mathematics.
Until a decade ago, most of my writing had been an adjunct to my work in the computer field.
Arguably, I am
a better editor than writer, having gained experience through joint authorship
of many papers and through technical editing duties at the SEI. (My sometimes
stormy relationship with the technical writers at the SEI taught me a good deal
about both writing and editing, as well as getting along with people in spite of
differences.) I have often thought of writing a book, but I
never seem to have both the time and an exciting topic at the same time. When I
get around to the task, I likely will not be writing a novel.
Since I began building Lionel Deimel’s Farrago, my writing has
expanded beyond the technical. I now am as likely to be writing poetry or
essays as database requirements or program documentation.
I have been playing musical instruments since I was in the third grade, and I
cannot imagine life without music. I justify calling myself a musician  through
my service as an Army bandsman for three years during the Vietnam War; I played
clarinet in Atlanta and Honolulu. I am a member of my church choir, and I have
sung in many other church choirs and choral groups over the years. My musical
tastes are eclectic, but generally don’t include rock, certainly not the more
aggressive forms of it, in any case. Some of my favorite artists are Glenn Miller,
Benny Goodman,
Judy Collins,
Carly Simon, and Vonda Shepard. I am
passionate about Bach and (especially)
Prokofiev.
I am active in my church,
St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, where I am Audio-Visual Coördinator. I am a member of the Worship Commission, and have
been a member of several committees, including the committee that brought a new and much-needed organ (from Schantz,
of Orrville, Ohio) to St.
Paul’s.
My interests in The Episcopal
Church and the Internet have, in recent years, led me to become increasingly
involved in controversies within the American branch of Anglicanism. I am past
president of
Progressive Episcopalians of Pittsburgh, a lay-clergy group dedicated to
preserving a diverse and tolerant Episcopal Church. We are part of a larger
movement in the church represented by
Via Media USA, of which
Progressive Episcopalians of Pittsburgh (or PEP) was a founding member.
I seem to have much too little time for my other interests, which include
photography, railroading, and baseball. I am interested in science and technology—which
I do seem to keep up with—and public affairs. Until recently, I owned three
cats, but my two oldest cats both died in early 2005. Ezekiel, a ten-year-old
brown tabby, now shares the house with a relatively new arrival, a five-year-old female
Bombay named Eve, whose name is actually
Evening Light.
— LED, 5/24/2007 |
