Bio of Eytan Bernstein

Biography

Before I start, I'd like to talk a little bit about pronunciation. Undoubtedly, even if I do this, some will still have problems, but it's worth a try. My first name is pronounced as follows: Eytan = (The letter) "A" + ton (as in Chinese wonton, Tonto the lone ranger character, or Tonsil - something some people have removed in their throats). Bernstein = (the thing a pyromaniac likes to do) Burn + Steen (rhymes with bean, keen, mean).

I like to think of myself as a renaissance man. As grandiose, and possibly self-absorbed as this sounds, I feel that this is an accurate representation of my developing identity. According to dictionary.com, a renaissance man “has broad intellectual interests and is accomplished in areas of both the arts and the sciences.” While I am not a certifiable expert in many areas of art or science, I’d like to think that I am proficient, or at least aware of, a variety of different fields. To me, a renaissance man is someone who has interests in and ambitions towards awareness in most aspects of life. It is my hope that this website, in addition to serving as a professional and personal gateway, will serve to express my many different interests as a renaissance man. So, how did all of these interests start?

I was born on November 20^th, 1979 in Wynnewood, Penssylvania, a small suburb of metropolitan Philadelphia. My time in Philadelphia was short – my parents moved to Lewiston, Maine in 1982. My earliest childhood memories include fishing and playing in the wilderness of Maine (as well as the rest of New England where both sides of the family are from). I went to a small school in Auburn Maine, started by my parents at the local synagogue. At the age of 6, my parents moved from Maine to Long Island, NY (and into the very home in which I currently reside). My father accepted a position at a synagogue in Plainview, NY. It is in Plainview that I went through primary and secondary school and lived until the age of 18.

In Plainview, I developed a variety of different passions. Some were based on interests inherited from my family – history, geology, gemology, art, religion, and sci-fi/fantasy – while others – piano, gymnastics, movies, and comic books - I developed due to personality and happenstance. My parents enrolled me in a comprehensive Jewish educational institution with strong religious and secular programs. While I always questioned blind religious tradition, the background in religious texts and learning has stayed with me to this day. The teachers awakened within me interests in politics, art, social sciences, rhetoric, literature, and other areas.

Around the same time I started school, I also began to study piano. I had an aborted attempt at piano lessons as at the age of four in Maine, but it wasn’t until got to Long Island that I began it seriously. I was never very good at sight-reading, but I had a good ear for music and fast fingers. I could play complicated pieces, but it took me a while to learn them. At some point, around the age of 11 or so, I began to compose my own music. I got frustrated with my inability to sight read, so I began to make up my own pieces. In the beginning, the pieces borrowed from classical works I was studying, but they rapidly diverged into their own directions. My folks bought me a nice yamaha keyboard (around the age of 15) that I still use today. I have yet to find one I like better, though I suspect that I will need to soon, given mileage on this one and the amount of music I am writing now (and being paid for!!).

At the age of 12, I had my first foray into RPGs. My neighbor had an early D&D book – one of the ones where having “elf” as your class was still an option. I had come home for my winter break and we did nothing but play D&D for the whole vacation. I learned later that we weren’t playing the rules even close to properly, but it was fun and I’ve been hooked ever since. I briefly branched into Vampire: the Masquerade. I later came back to Vampire and it became one of my favorites. My favorite RPG as a teen was Shadowrun. I read all of the novels in the series and knew the game backwards and forwards. I also enjoyed Marvel Superheroes, Palladium – including Rifts and Heroes Unlimitied, Call of Cthulu, Underground, and GURPS among others. In my later high school years, I met up with a new gaming group and was reintroduced to D&D. It has since become my favorite RPG. I’ll discuss my professional interests elsewhere.

In 1998, I moved to Montreal, Quebec where I enrolled in McGill University. Montreal provided a level of freedom that I never even imagined during my cloistered life on Long Island. No one was making any decisions or setting any schedules for me. I was in a multicultural, multilingual environment. I became involved in the McGill Gamer’s Guild. I was on the guild exec for 3 years and was on their RPG convention committee. I am still in contact with many of my guild friends, a few of which have started their own magazine and publishing company called Polymancer. I finished McGill with a Bachelors in comparative religion and history.

My interests in religion began with my own religious studies as a child, but continued to evolve with my university degree. I've always been fascinated with why people believe what they do (especially in relation to god) and what that makes them do in life. A great deal of my writing is informed and influenced by my interest and training in comparative religion. I am hoping to write a book sometime soon about heresy, faith, and schism in RPG religion, but I have yet to begin this (or to search for a publisher).

After I finished my degree in Montreal, I moved back to Long Island. Over that summer, I came to the conclusion that I needed a job with financial prospects so in September 2002, I began an education masters with a concentration in teaching social studies at Long Island University, CW Post Campus. I enjoyed the evening classes and the picturesque campus. (I finished the degree in 2004). I'm currently working on an MS in Publishing at Pace University. "Why 2 Masters Degrees," you ask? "Why not," I respond.

My RPG career began about 5 years ago with work for Silven Publishing, a company I eventually helped expand to its current status as Silven Crossroads under 12 to Midnight. I began doing freelance work for Wizards of the Coast in 2005. Since then, I have worked on 7 books and countless articles for both 3.x and 4e. I've done work on a few other systems as well and have had my hand at projects for other companies, such as Goodman Games, Green Ronin, Dark Quest, and a number of others.

Oh. One more thing. I am gay. It's obviously an important part of my life, but it does not define all aspects of my existence. I'd certainly love to meet a gaymer guy and settle down, but in the meantime, I'm living my life and enjoying things. I've got a solid career as an editor for history books, more freelance RPG work than I have room for on 10 computers, and a fantastic rent stabilized apartment with a dedicated library/study. So in the grand scheme of things, my life ain't too bad at all.