He left the University of Arizona in 1972 and started Ph.D. work in Journalism at the University of Missouri, with a minor in Political Science. After one semester, he accepted a position at New York University, where he taught journalism and a course in fiction writing. He continued his Ph.D. studies during the summers for the next couple of years, and took a brief leave of absence at NYU to act as a visiting professor at Missouri, and finished his third novel, The Ninth Man.