Selecting a word, no less than choosing a course of action, is a moral decision. The words I choose will outlive me and have consequences beyond my ability to calculate. I decide to choose wisely.

Success is as important to me as to the next guy, but I've learned that the more I aim for whatever I happen to think success is, the more I miss it. For success, like happiness, eludes me if I pursue it and finds me only as the unintended side-effect of my dedication to a cause greater than myself. Success happens when I care least about it.

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I was born in Budapest, Hungary and came to the United States in 1956 at the age of six. I am the oldest of three boys.

I grew up in New York City, attended Brooklyn Technical High School, and went to Duke University.

My family includes Anna Beth Payne, Associate Dean of Students and Director of the Counseling Center at Susquehanna University, a small, liberal arts college in Selinsgrove, Penn.  We have two children.  Daniel Payne Kador, recently graduated from the school of engineering at the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, started his first professional job at San Francisco-based Salesforce.com.   Rachel Payne Kador is in her first year at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, where she is majoring in English and equestrian science.    

I'm proud of my two brothers.  Peter owns an accupuncture practice in Morristown, NJ.  Robert is the president of Good Heatlh Advertising, bringing together health care providers and health care consumers.   

In July 2006, Anna Beth and I relocated from Geneva, Illinois, where we lived for almost 20 years, to Winfield, Pennsylvania. 

My interests include fencing and running (Chicago Marathon 1998), as well as theater. I am a member of the Rotary service organziation.  For the 2005-2006 year, I served as club president for the Geneva Rotary Club. I am currently a member of the Lewisburg Sunrise Rotary Club.

I am blessed with strength, a loving family, and good friends. In retrospect, one of the best things that happened to me was deciding to be an independent writer. That decision allowed me to work from home and participate full-time in my children growing up, something that too few fathers get to have.

Susquehanna Valley Independent Writers

I always want to surround myself with writers. 

Susquehanna Valley Independent Writers is a writer's support group that meets every other week.  Please check out the Web site for meeting times and locations.  The difference between a writer's support group and a writer's group is the balance between support and criticism.  Traditional writer's groups usually spend a lot of time reviewing manuscripts with an eye toward critical improvment.  That's a useful thing to do, but our group is more about examing the identiity of the writer and reminding ourselves that we have the answers and that we are not alone in our struggles.  We do a lot of quick writing exercises and goalsetting. We invite guests to stop by. 

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Click here for selected photos of me with my friends and family doing the various things I like to do.

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For the past few years, I have written child-centered Haggadot for the large Passover seders we create every year for our 10-family Havarot (community). I believe that Passover should not merely be recreated but experienced as if happening to us for the first time. Feel free to use these Haggadot to bring a sense of participation and joy to your family's seders.

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