I'm Craig Levin. Welcome to my homepage!
By day, I am a library paraprofessional. I've worked in a number of different places-colleges, government agencies, law offices, and non-profits. For more information see my resume.
While that takes care of forty hours in the week, that still leaves me plenty of time for other things, like a home life. I have a lovely wife, who works as a legal editor, the former Miss Elizabeth Ulrich. Elizabeth and I met through a shared hobby: the Society for Creative Anachronism, or SCA.
The SCA is one of the largest amateur organizations devoted to historical recreation. It focuses on the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, and, indeed, aside from unpleasantries like the Black Death and witch-burning, there are SCAdians (members of the SCA) who are attempting to recreate many aspects of mediaeval and Renaissance life. We come from all walks of life, from assembly-line workers to economists.
My interests in the SCA include the study of heraldry, seafaring, chivalrous literature, and Renaissance Spanish, Portuguese, and Sephardic culture. Like a lot of SCAdians, I have a persona, a sort of alter ego who could have existed in the SCA's time period. Personas are often a way of putting a human face on one's SCA interests. My persona is Pedro de Alcazar, a converso gentleman from Renaissance Portugal. My wife's persona is Devora bat Shimshon, a Sephardic Jewess from the Ottoman Empire at about the same time. As you might expect, persona-to-persona conversations can sometimes get a little acrimonious!
Like a lot of people in my field, I was trained in something other than library science. My bachelor's and master's degrees are in history and in mediaeval and Byzantine studies. I have continued to write and occasionally lecture within the SCA, and some of my work is listed in this webpage.
Many members of the SCA are avid readers of fantasy and science fiction, and I am one of them. In fact, most of us start as avid fantasy and science fiction readers. I cut my teeth on Asimov's "Lucky Starr" series back in when I was in elementary school, and since then, from the comfort of my own bed, I have roamed the solar system from here to Mercury to Pluto and back and gone sightseeing in Lankhmar, Narnia, and Camelot. I'm surprised my bags are all in one piece, frankly!
Another interest of mine that derives from my interest in fantasy and science fiction is outer space. I spent many a night of my high school years peering up through a telescope, mostly at the Moon, which has the advantage of being visible even in Chicago's light-polluted skies. The dream continued into my first couple of years of college, where I found that the math that would let me continue further into the field was just beyond my grasp.
However, the interest still remains. I am interested in the history of the pre-WW2 rocketry societies, and I am presently a member of the Planetary Society, which promotes the exploration of outer space. As a student of Renaissance Portuguese and Spanish history, I can only point to the fact that the exploration of Earth by these two kingdoms brought them an enormous amount of wealth. The exploration of outer space promises similar results, if humanity as a whole takes up the banner that Portugal and Castile once waved long ago.
The lucky lady is the former Ms. Elizabeth Ulrich. We declared our intention to marry to our folks in the fall of 1997, though nobody seemed to be overly shocked by the news. We finally tied the knot on March 14, 1999, despite the best attempts of Mother Nature to swamp the area in snow and slush.
We've been a pair since my second year of graduate work at Ohio University. We met through one of our shared interests-the SCA. It began as a friendship, the year before, and then I went to Europe to do some research on mediaeval piracy.
Upon my return, I found that she was in my Latin class, and we became study partners. This partnership deepened as we continued through the Latin curriculum. It's a rare couple, I guess, whose attachment arose over Caesar's Gallic Wars and Virgil's Aeneid. If there's anyone else, I'd like to know-so we can exchange notes. Then, she became a history major, and took many of the same classes I did.
I left Ohio, and went to Catholic University, and she stayed there to finish her coursework. For a while, we continued to correspond via email, and then, when she left school, by snail mail, letter after letter. Finally, she came to DC, and our separation was ended.
In addition to her scholarly abilities, she's also a great cook, seamstress, weaver, confectioner, baker, masseuse, muse, poetess, actress, and painter. Truly, one who marries such a one is blessed.