While his fiction is written in English, he composes poetry in English, German, French and Spanish. He speaks five languages and has a smattering of words and sentences of various idioms, which enable him to communicate whit people from around the world.

As a professional photographer he has had as subjects President Jimmy Carter, President Ronald Regan, former Attorney General and Senator Bobby Kennedy, and President Ferdinand Marcos of the Philippines.

His wife Simone is an artist particularly in portraits, and his daughter Iris is a classical singer.