Hirsh, Philip R.: - Like someone growing up in a bilingual home, Philip Hirsh's formative years were divided between two worlds, one in northern New Jersey and the other in the Alleghany Mountains on the western edge of Virginia. He was educated at Phillips Academy Andover, Yale University, and Jefferson Medical College. After a residency in psychiatry at Georgetown University Hospital and two years in the U.S. Army Medical Corps, he began working in forensics with both adult and child offenders. He used that experience to write his first book, "When Evil Isn't Enough," a New York City crime story about psychopaths flourishing on both sides of the law. Drawing from his Appalachian memories, he wrote "Voices From the Hollow," stories about Appalachian people, their culture, and durable values. "Voices" was a finalist in Foreword magazine's short story Book of the Year award in 2006. Hirsh's third book, "The Lost Tarpon," is a collection of short stories, some bemused, some lacerating, all taking a fanciful look at just how soft conventional morality really is. "The Invisible Power of Moksha" explores the possibility of measuring justice without using any of the standard tools of law enforcement or the courts. "Moksha" bridges the space between physical and spiritual power, a tool like no other, useless in vengeful hands, but unstoppable when deployed in harmony with the purity of natural law. Dr. Hirsh is retired and living on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, still patiently waiting for the return of Ambrose Bierce.