I am a retired computer programmer living in Saint Paul, MN. I have a Ph.D. in philosophy (Wisconsin, 1973), of which I have made very little use (two published articles), but the work did provide me with background in scholarly writing.

Early on, my contributions were mainly in paleontology. More recent contributions have mostly focused on typography, on symbols like the apostrophe and colon, as well as some matters of Christian theology.

I have been editing Wikipedia since December 2010.

When I created the account as a newbie, I included my middle initial in my user name as I was used to the ambiguity associated with having a common name. I now realize that there is no User:Peter Brown, so this was unnecessary and added a formality not to my liking. I have accordingly specified "Peter Brown" as my nickname and added a note to Wikipedia:Username policy#Guidance for new users recommending that individuals reflect on the desired level of formality in their choices.