I started origami when I was six years old. Even then I enjoyed making my own animals. At the time the typical method was to fold animals from two sheets of paper, or cut the paper, or use any shape paper. As a child I thought it was cheating to not use a single uncut square for origami.

Throughout the years I continued to develop and refine my style and techniques. When my first book was published in 1980, “Origami for the Enthusiast”, it was the first origami book where all the models were each folded from a single uncut square. This influenced folders and designers around the world, starting a new movement. Also in my first book, I introduced the origami term “double rabbit ear fold”. One of my hobbies is whistling. I can whistle in 5 octaves, and have shown this talent at 2 whistling conventions in Louisburg, North Carolina