Stephen C. Glazier Short Biography*

By Jeff Spurrier

Stephen Glazier was born in Washington, D.C. (1947) but was raised in California. He grew up as a child among the redwoods of Mill Valley and then moved as a teenager to La Jolla where he learned of life better than what he had known at Exeter: surf, the Beatles, and girls. He attended Harvard for one uncomfortable year and then returned to his roots: San Francisco, where he attended UC Berkeley, studied drama, wrote screenplays, experimented in higher forms of consciousness, went to the Fillmore, and got tear-gassed at People's Park. He had a great time.

Following graduation he wrote screenplays, books, and began traveling. He sold his first book, "The Lost Provinces," in 1981. Two options for "The Lost Provinces" followed, bringing Steve out to Los Angeles for five years. He worked his "only real job" at the Disney Channel for eight months, read science fiction for Stephen Spielberg, and began "The Word Menu." He also met the actress that would become his wife, Anna Raviv.

Returning to Manhattan, he and Anna lived in her Little Italy apartment and Steve turned his attention full-time to "The Word Menu."

In 1990 his dream became real when Random House picked it up for their Reference Division. Before his premature death from a brain tumor, Steve reached a plateau of happiness: his relationship with Anna, the nearly impossible success of his book, and, during a trip to Israel, a sense of his own heritage. Stephen C. Glazier died January 20, 1992.

* Excerpted from Stephen Glazier's obituary.