Here’s the article about him. For those interested in language, it’s a cool read.
However, the intro about his decision to study Chinese because of an acid trip was a bit bizarre, and the ending was downright depressing—he spent his life savings of US$300,000 on his website?
“Now 67, Sears lives alone, leading a simple and thrifty life. He relies largely on public donations to keep his website going.”
That’s sad.
I’ve always wondered why such characters not just try to make their ‘obsession’, i guess it’s fair to say it’s an obsession, when that interest of yours leaves you with 2 ex-wives and 300’000$ of debt, into a profession. From what I’ve read, he clearly had the wits and the scientific knowledge to pursue an academic career in this field.
On the other hand, I don’t know how legitimate his work is, so I’m not doubting it. But there are many like him (not in this field specifically but in general) who argue that working as an academic or scientist would narrow their mind and mainstream science is just fake etc…I hope he had other reasons. But who cares, he says his happy the way it is.
The Chinese official media promotes him frequently and he is getting famous in China. So perhaps he is doing ok financially these days.
That must have been a weird trip.