Contents

• A brief autobiography (but not brief enough)

• Selected bibliography

• My philosophy (in a handful of snappy sentences)

• A bit of dog psychology

Other Pages

• Moved! (Some of) My Favorite Quotes

• Recommended Authors

• New! Mâvarin.com, a guide to my novels

• New! Musings from Mâvarin, my blog about writing, ethics and other stuff, with real and fictional entries

• New! St. Michael's and All Angels Church

• Project Quantum Leap (dusty page, current club; has a link to the official site)

• A tribute to Dan Cheney (dead a quarter century)

• A tribute to my mom, Dr. Ruth Anne Johnson (died in December 2002

• The Tesseract: A Madeleine L'Engle bibliography

Born: March 10, 1957, Syracuse, NY.

Pre-College Days: Lived in Dewitt, NY until 1961, and then Manlius NY until 1976 when my parents divorced. Best childhood friend was Joel Rubinstein. The fact that I liked a boy at that age, coupled with my weight, intelligence, and the last name Funk meant that I got teased a lot, which is probably why I still care so much about tolerance and kindness toward others.  Founded Star Trek fanzine 2-5YM (Second 5-Year Mission) in 1973, edited same until 1977. Co-founded STAR Syracuse, a local Star Trek fan club, in 1973. Friends from the club included d l hobert, Gordon Hunter, Carl Norman, Chris Doherty, Gary Robin Weitz and others.

College: majored in English Lit and Film (originally Creative Writing and TV-Radio) at Syracuse University, 1975-9. Changed majors in 1977 because the Creative Writing department head was never available to see me, a required TV class conflicted with watching Barney Miller, and I couldn't think of anything new for Hawkeye Pierce to say. Left college five incomplete courses short of a BA in 1979 because I had a block about writing literary essays. Friends in college were Betsy Cronin, Evelyn Orlando (now Evelyn Wolke) and Howard Glazer. In November, 2002 I matriculated at the University of Phoenix to turn that old failure into something useful, a BS in accounting. I graduated in early 2005 with a 3.94 GPA at UoP. If only I'd done so well at Syracuse all those years ago...no.  I'm not sure it would have helped.

Other Worlds: Club officer (Editor, then Recording Secretary, then Vice President, then Lord President) of the United Whovians of Tucson (a local Doctor Who fan club), 1990-2000. Edited TARDIS Time Lore, 1990-93, and wrote the fan novella Paradox: Two Doctors in Time about The Seventh Doctor and Dr. Sam Beckett. Co-founder and Project Chairman of Project Quantum Leap (international Quantum Leap fan club), 1990-present. Editor of The Observer, 1990-1998, contributor, 1990-present. Writer of the fantasy novel Heirs of Mâvarin, which is intermittently looking for love in the literary marketplace. I'm also in the revision stage of writing the sequel, Mages of Mâvarin.

Religion: Raised to be a lapsed Catholic (Mom had too many issues with the Roman Catholic Church to either attend it or throw off the old 1930s-1940s doctrine completely), I had a brief "Jesus Person" period in about ninth grade, but general stayed with the Church (not without conflicts) until I married John in a ceremony performed by Fr. Ed Van Auken, several years before Ed left the priesthood. Nearly two decades of near-agnosticism followed. In the summer of 1997 I got tired of waiting for inspiration to hit and decided to seek God more actively. Soon I found my way into St. Michael's & All Angels Episcopal Church, which happens to be right up the street from me. I am now the parish webmaster. I still don't know exactly what I believe, but the Nicene Creed, if one doesn't insist on the most literal interpretation, is a pretty good start.

Family: One husband (same one), no kids (gave up after a few thousand dollars' worth of trying), one dog (Tuffy Toro), no cats (allergic). Also a brother in Cleveland (Steven Eric Funk), a dad and a stepmother in Wilmington (Drs. Frank E and Ruth C Funk), and a recently deceased mom (Dr. Ruth Anne Johnson, died 12/16/02).

Relix magazine, Vol. 8, Nos. 1-4, February-August 1981. Articles for this rock and roll magazine included a cover story, "John Lennon: A Remembrance," plus two articles on Beatles collectibles, a concert review of The Clash and a review of a Yoko Ono video.

"Who's Tomorrow?" Interview with Doctor Who producer John Nathan-Turner. Starlog Spectacular #1, September, 1990. Collaboration with Teresa Murray.

"Sergeant At Arms" Interview with John Anthony Blake, also known as John Levene, who appeared as Benton opposite three different Doctors in Doctor Who. Starlog #165, April, 1991. Collaboration with Teresa Murray. Article contributed to the actor getting his "green card."

"A Time Lord's Times." Interview with the third "Doctor Who," John Pertwee. Starlog #167, June, 1991. Collaboration with Teresa Murray.

"Days of Doctors Past." Interview with Doctor Who producer John Nathan-Turner. Starlog Yearbook Vol. 8, May, 1991. Collaboration with Teresa Murray.

Doctor Who Trading Cards, Series One-Five. Text for the backs of well over 500 trading cards. Cornerstone Communications, Inc., 1994-7.

Heirs of Mâvarin. Semi-traditional fantasy coming-of-age novel, currently looking for a publisher and/or representation by a literary agent. Yes, this is the novel I was working on back in high school and at Clarion '77, and no, I haven't been working on it continuously these past 29 years. I finished the first full draft in 1989. It's been through several major rewrites since then, most notably in 2002 with the redevelopment of the character Rani. (Tengremen are so much fun to write!)  I am currently on the final edit  and proofreading before I submit it to a publisher for the first time in over a decade.  (Gulp!)

The story: three teenagers must adapt to the dangerous new identities that are thrust upon them, and change their whole country in the process. For fifteen years, Mâvarin has been ruled by a family of impostors, allies of the mage-ruled country of Mâton. By the time Del Merden learns that he's really Prince Carli, he's run away from home to help his best friend, Rani Fost, who has been transformed into a temperamental monster called a tengrem. Together they must face poison, enemy tengremen and their own insecurities to reach Gathmak, the embattled tengrem stronghold where the missing King and Rani's cure are both to be found. Meanwhile, Del's twin sister, Crel, finds herself stranded in the capital city of Thâlemar, learning to be Princess Cathma while trying to avoid capture by the impostors and their allies.

Mages of Mâvarin. Sequel begun Fall 1992. Revision in progress.

The story: Queen Cathma, Rani Fost and their allies try unsuccessfully to avert the troubles caused by a young mage named Darsuma and a shipwrecked prince with a hidden past. Prince Talber of Londer insists that he's crossed an entire ocean to marry Cathma, much to Cathma's annoyance. Meanwhile, Rani develops his talent for magic while keeping a friendly but watchful eye on Darsuma, the gifted daughter of Archmage Sunestri of Mâton. A perversion of a mage's Robing ceremony has transferred the insane, ambitious spirit of Darsuma's dead mother, Lormarte, from Sunestri's body to her own. Darsuma tries to remain herself, but it's a losing battle. Lormarte means to marry King Carli, become a queen, and rule Mâvarin using Darsuma's body. To forestall opposition, Lormarte/Darsuma separates the Royal Mage from his own spirit, leaving him confused and virtually nameless in another part of the country. Later, Lormarte gets Darsuma to strand both Cathma and Rani in another version of reality.

The Whovian Home Companion. A collection of Doctor Who interviews and related material. Collaboration with Teresa Murray.

An Observer's Guide to Quantum Leap. A companion to the tv series, featuring interviews, episode guides, etc. Received verbal okay from MCA/Universal, but then a similar book was given to someone else to write. Collaboration with Teresa Murray.

Christmas Trivia. Book. Completed in 1989; update pending. Collaboration with John Blocher.

Route 66: On the Road With Tod & Buz & Linc. The project to which I gave hundreds of hours in 1985-6, only to see the tv series Route 66 dropped from cable shortly after I finished interviewing the actors and producers. Still pending as a possible future title, if I can get the files off the Commodore 64 floppies.

The Observer. Quantum Leap fanzine-newsletter, published by Project Quantum Leap. January 1991-present. Editor (until 1998) and major contributor. Features numerous interviews, episode guides, etc.

The Hologram (formerly The Unseen Observer). Quantum Leap fanzine review, originally published by Project Quantum Leap, 1991-1992. Editor and major contributor during that period.

Paradox: Two Doctors in Time. Fan novella, published by the United Whovians of Tucson, circa 1993. Doctor Who / Quantum Leap crossover story with a huge cast, revised from a serial in TARDIS Time Lore and illustrated by Sherlock.

TARDIS Time Lore. Doctor Who fanzine-newsletter, published by the United Whovians of Tucson. 1990-2000. Editor (1990-1993) and major contributor (1990-2000). Interviews, fiction, humor, etc.

2-5YM. Star Trek fanzine, published by STAR-Syracuse, December 1973-December 1977. Editor and major contributor throughout its run.

Various reviews, poems, stories, satires, letters and essays in college, high school and junior high newspapers and magazines.

• I almost never make an unqualified statement.

• Life isn't fair -- so people should try to be.

• Don't hate a person, just what he or she does.

• Your rights don't include infringing on my rights--or vice versa.

• I don't have all the answers about God--and I don't believe you do, either. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't keep asking the questions!

• Human behavior is far more diverse than we like to think it is, and the human brain can be highly erratic. Some people are more eccentric than others, but there's no such thing as "normal" behavior.

• Far too many friendships are damaged or ruined by miscommunication.  Try to stay on the same page.

• Guard against the human tendency to discriminate against others because they're "not like us." Labeling people as "Us and Them" leads to war, bigotry, and most of the evil in the world.

• Treat people with compassion, and tolerate almost everything except intolerance and malice.

• You don't have to put people down to bring yourself up.

• The only way to stop being an outsider is to step inside.

 

Yeah, I'm pompous. At least I've thought about this stuff.

 

Noodle (the trouble dog)

1985-2001

Photo by J Blocher

1.  Don't forget the dog.

2.  More, please.

3.  Don't hurt me; I'm only a puppy.

4.  I'd really rather not do that.

5.  Hey! Intruder alert!

Tuffy Toro (born 1996)

Photo by J Blocher

Left to right: Noodle (died 8/18/01), Tuffy, and Karen.

Photo by J Blocher

1.  Affection

2.  Attention

3.  Food

4.  Freedom

(not necessarily in that order)