Robert was born in Pittsburgh, PA in 1944. He graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with a B.A in German Literature, with a minor in Russian, and an M.A. in Linguistics. He then went on to earn a doctorate in Indo- European Studies (ancient languages and comparative mythology) at UCLA. He now works as a professor at York University in Toronto, Canada. He has lived in Hong Kong, China, Japan and Australia, and has traveled widely in Asia and in Europe, especially Italy, where he feels truly at home.