Jean-Michel Smith

Growing up in the American Midwest, my addiction to travel began with a summer job planting pineapples in Hawaii. I widened my travels while studying engineering at the University of Illinois, spending a semester in Salzburg, Austria, where I learned to speak German. Later I was in Germany for two semesters as part in an exchange program with the Technische Hoschschule Darmstadt. I also had the good fortune of working several summers for Bayer Leverkusen as a Werkstudent (summer intern), further honing my language and IT skills. After graduating with a degree in Computer Science I attended graduate school and went on to work in the financial industry, designing and setting up trading systems in various places around the world. For many years I worked for a prop trading firm in Chicago, during which time I started my first novel and met my beautiful wife, author Christine Todd. Our journey has since taken us to various places around the world, rewarding us with a rich diversity of experience and adventure.

Christine’s new novel has been very well received. Check it out here.

London Pub Singalong: “Please Don’t Touch me Plums (the Vegetable Song)”

Lyrics to this hilarious song here

And now for something completely different … “Verdammp lang her” (loose translation: “A Hell of a Long Time”), one of my favourite songs from the German Rock band “BAP”. Always makes me think of the father I never met.