CB McKenzie, a Texas native, has been a lifeguard, haute couture model, carpenter, housepainter, waiter, farmhand, teacher, and factory worker in a wide variety of locales around the world, including Hamburg, Miami, Milan, Tokyo, and Tucson. He earned both an MFA and a PhD from the University of Arizona and was a full-time faculty member at Pima Community College. Though he currently teaches at City University of New York, he still keeps his pickups in Tucson and Texas.