Vzdělání

University of Texas at Austin, United States, Post-Soviet/East-European Studies – BA
University of Texas at Austin, United States, Journalism – BA
United States Defense Language Institute, USA, Czech, Slovak, Russian

Praxe

Before going to university, Marcus served four years in the United States Army working in military intelligence. As a working student interested in writing, he wanted to gain as much first-hand experience as he could in understanding people from all walks of life, working as a waiter, bartender, suicide hotline counselor, dance instructor, and repo man, among others. Since 1998, he has contributed as a writer and as an editor for various traditional and online media, and has been working as a professional translator. Having worked primarily with the Czech and Slovak languages in the army, he came to the Czech Republic in 1998 to experience the culture first-hand. His original plan of staying for one year has been extended indefinitely. He began teaching in Zlín at the Thomas Bata Business Academy and Thomas Bata University, where he worked for 11 years before moving to Vsetin and teaching at a private school (Kostka s.r.o.). Since 2015, he has taught at PORG Ostrava at both the primary school and grammar school.

Zájmy

In his spare time Marcus enjoys playing guitar, singing, writing, running, and following trends in media, psychology, and geopolitics. His musical tastes run from rhythm and blues (e.g. Otis Redding and Solomon Burke) to country (e.g. Johnny Cash and Sturgill Simpson) to punk (e.g. Sex Pistols, Ramones, Black Flag), and performs with the punk band PORGasm, composed primarily of teachers. His favorite writers are those who use humor to draw attention to political or social issues, e.g. Chuck Palahniuk, Kurt Vonnegut, Terry Pratchett, Joseph Heller, Neil Gaiman, and David Wong.