Derek is from Carlisle, Mass. and has a family tree that spreads back to England.  His Mayflower ancestor John Stowe, surveyor for King Charles I, arrived in 1624.  As a high school senior at Phillips, Andover, Derek published his first short story about the intricate ecosystem surrounding a golf course. He earned his bachelor’s degree in French at UC Berkeley where he received praise for his final paper, “L’éruption de la Montagne Pelée, 1902.”  At 29, he earned a songwriting certificate from Berklee College of Music, Boston and went on to travel the world including Europe, Canada, and the Caribbean islands.  He spent two years in France and one in Mexico and before starting up a day-spa in Ashland, Ore. in the late 90s.  After 9/11, he gave up the spa to move to Los Angeles.  At 43, he earned a Media Arts certificate from Glendale Community College in Corporate Television.

Derek has spent his life specializing in self-expression. Throughout his career, his writing advice has been highly sought-after by students and business owners.  He is currently working as a private writing consultant and gives occasional lessons in French, Spanish, Algebra, voice and piano.  His uncanny sense of wit, keen ambition, and versatile vocabulary are what set Derek apart as a news writer.   His ability to understand different cultures, languages, and personas have shaped him into the keen writer he is today.  His news reporting aspirations include science lectures, green energy, web design, time-travel films, noir fiction, celebrity endurance stories, jazz music, and team sports.