Alon Shalev - Oilspill dotcom


Bio - The Basics


Born and bred in England, I grew up in the vibrancy of London where I learned about politics, social change and soccer.

After receiving a degree in Social Administration, I went to live in Israel to help create Kibbutz Lotan: a brave social experiment to build a environmental, egalitarian intentional community in the inspiring Arava desert, a part of the Afro-Syrian Rift.

In 2005, I moved with my family to Berkeley, California, where my wife, Ariela, is fulfilling a long-held ambition to become a psychologist. She is completing a PsyD at the Wright Institute in Berkeley. 

I run a non-profit in San Francisco (Hillel) that strives to empower Jewish students to explore their relationship to Judaism.

I have two sons: Pele (11) who endures with difficulty his father’s immersion into the world of writing and the time it takes away from them being together; and Asif (7) who tells better stories than his father.  One of my greatest challenges is to find the balance between a challenging job, being an involved father, and being a writer.

  • Other Aspects

    My family and I arrived in the US as Hurricane Katrina  raged through the Gulf Coast.  Watching the ensuing scenario unfold was a difficult integration into our new home.  

    Helping recruit students to go and participate in the rebuilding of a community, both physically and socially, has been one of my most rewarding experiences since coming to America.   


 

THE STARTING 5...

 

"The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn, like fabulous yellow Roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars, and in the middle, you see the blue center-light pop, and everybody goes ahh..."
  

   On the Road, Jack Kerouac