Contemporary Urban Haiku

About the Book

The author of Contemporary Urban Haiku, Fred Simmons, was born in Los Angeles, California in 1928, and is a graduate of the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA, B.A. with major in English Literature in 1952 and an L.L.B., later Juris Doctor, J.D. in 1958). Mr.Simmons served as a naval officer during the Korean War, and since 1958 he has been a practicing lawyer in Los Angeles. Mr.Simmons has been Certified as a Specialist in Taxation and also in Estate Planning, Trusts, and Probate. He has written and lectured nationally on Tax and Estate Planning for the wealthy. His legal practice, he says with some embarrass-ment, involves “specializing in fine print and loopholes, and has, sadly, only served to make rich men much richer and myself rich in the process.” His poetry, which he thinks of as an escape from his real work has been published in national magazines.

About the Author

Fred Simmons the author of Translation is on Advises the Editorial Board of Biblical Archeology Review, and for over twenty years has been the opening speaker at a unique annual program on Biblical Archeology at the Jewish University of America, in Los Angeles, where for over fifty years Mr. Simmons has practiced law. He is also the author of King David (Xlibris, 2003) and King David and his Concubine, a play in verse which was first produced in Los Angeles in 2005, with the noted actor, Ed Asner playing the aged King David. Mr. Simmons is also the author of Contemporary Urban Haiku, and several of his sonnets have been published in national magazines including Moment and Bible Review. Mr. Simmons was born in Los Angeles in 1928 and served as a naval officer during the Korean War, and is a graduate of UCLA and the UCLA School of Law, where he served on the Law Review. In his professional life, Mr. Simmons is a Certified Specialist in Estate Planning and Taxation and has written extensively and lectured nationwide on his area of specialization. This novel "Translation" was inspired, Mr. Simmons said, by what is a troubling conundrum in Bible Studies: "How did The Book of Exodus, which some scholars consider a literary if not actually an historical masterpiece, come to be written as the world has known it for over two thousand years?" Mr. Simmons says, "I turn to writing fiction, poetry and plays to escape an uninspiring life of only working with the fine print and loopholes in the law, with which I have helped my client accumulate and retain their great wealth."