Dear Moderators, Don and Linda: My name is Don Cohen and I am a retired attorney and part-time history and law professor from Los Angeles, California. For many of my younger years, besides teaching history and literature in high school and college, I also taught guitar and did a lot of performing. I am also a collector, and writer on the subject of world folk music, and in particular on the unique Portuguese musical form, fado, which explains my e-mail signature. I have a book on that subject in the process of publication which is scheduled for release this coming Spring. My wife, Barbara and I are compulsive travelers and have traveled frequently and very extensively in Europe, and particularly (of course) in Portugal and Italy. We have also traveled in South and Central America, Africa, China, India and the Middle East. It is embarrassing to admit that, having been a Civil War buff most of my life, and having taught American history and the Civil War period frequently, I have never visited the battlefields and am in the midst of planning that trip now for next Spring or Fall. We are also planning to return to Southern France and Northern Italy next summer.

Best Regards, Don Cohen Los Angeles, CA