Shep is a descendant of oil barons and bootleggers, grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area in the midst of that whole utopian sixties thing. He was a rock and jazz musician, then educator. His first teaching assignment was with youth in lockup in the County Juvenile Detention Center, the only un-mellow job in bucolic Santa Cruz, California. He earned his doctorate at UC Berkeley, with studies in anthropology and special education. Siegel has over thirty publications in the education field. His 2018 book, "Disruptive Play: The Trickster in Politics and Culture "spread its message of playfulness and progressive change.” Its essential follow-up is 2022's "Tricking Power into Performing Acts of Love" which explores the Trickster archetype in African American culture; the female trickster; slapstick, time travel, and what vision trickster holds for us today. Dr. Siegel has lived the longest in Northern California, and in Seattle, where he now resides.