Already working as an academic librarian in California, Tod Shacklett entered an MFA program in playwriting at UC Riverside because of a long-standing interest in theatre and also because it is beneficial for an academic librarian to have a second masters in a non-library field.

Upon earning the MFA in 2006, he promptly forgot all about playwriting and concentrated on being a librarian and learning to play jazz.

Now retired from library work, it's time for him to return to the second love (music being the first) and try to make some meaningful contribution while the brain still fires and the heart still beats.