About

I live with my wife and any number of cats in St. Louis. I am a double Pisces with an Aries ascendant; also, a Type 2 diabetic whose condition is fairly well-managed. I work at an academic library whose identity is not disclosed here but is not particularly hard to discover. Some St. Louisans may remember me from my thirteen years at Left Bank Books, the celebrated independent bookstore in the city’s Central West End. In addition to my library position, I work in support at the forum for DIYthemes, publisher of the Thesis Theme for WordPress. I used to run a site called ThesisLab where I posted occasional notes of interest on Thesis, but have since folded that material into this site.

For five years, I was the author of the weblog Waveflux, which was superceded first by a self-titled website and then by the blog you are reading right now.

I wrote for some time as a co-blogger at the group site Shakesville established by Melissa McEwan. Some of my writings have appeared on the news and opinion site AlterNet.

Some years back, I began a web-based campaign requesting a reexamination of the death in Iraq of PFC LaVena Johnson of Florissant, MO. This led to to a website dedicated to LaVena’s case, and to an online petition effort addressed to the Armed Services Committees of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The petition was completed and submitted to select members of Congress; I still maintain the website, but no longer write for it.

I have published short fiction in three literary journals, and hope to work on something longer, one day, God willing.

I like salty snacks just a little too much, perhaps.

I have been told that I resemble the actor Andre Braugher, which is a change from my youth, when I was told that I resembled the actor Jimmie Walker.

Clarification:

‘Philip Barron’ is a remarkably common name; occasionally, people mistake me for someone else with the same handle. The following statements are intended to help clarify things.

I am not the Philip Barron who owns a St. Louis-based realty firm.

I am neither Dr. Philip Barron, the New York-based chiropractor, nor am I Philip Barron, author of Cancer (part of The Natural Way series from Element Books).

Additionally, I am neither the Philip Barron who has been associated with the UK-based Hearing Concern, nor am I the Philip Barron who wrote an article for Edges Magazine on the threat to family life posed by 24-hour society.

Notably, I am not the Phillip (with two Ls) Barron who is a digital media artist, writer, and avid bicyclist. I do follow him on Twitter, however, and he follows me. This has not caused the time-space continuum to implode – as of this writing, at least.

This list of Philip Barrons whom I am not will be updated as needed.