Born in Virginia. Received B.A. from Yale University; M.A. from Columbia University and graduate study at Harvard. Married to Marian C. with two daughters and a son.

He served in the Army in China in 1942, and stayed in China as a war correspondent until 1949. He was chief historian in Japan for the U. S. Air Force 1949-1951; in Taiwan 1952-1955; in Thailand for Newsweek 1959-1965; retired in 1965.

Co-Author with Brian Matravers of Chinese Banknotes (1970).

He died of a heart attack while walking a beach in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Elected to the IBNS Hall of Fame in 2016.