About Me
A California native, I grew up with a love for the coastal landscape—eucalyptus groves, the energetic Pacific and undulating ochre hills. I moved from Southern California to the San Francisco Bay Area in the early 1970s. There I reared my children, taught high school English, studied art history and, along the way, co-owned a small design business. I’ve always read and often preferred it to spending time around people, but I began to write seriously only after my children were grown.
Seeking a change of pace from high school teaching in in the early 1990s, I earned an M. A. in English at San Francisco State University and soon began teaching composition, literature and creative writing for Diablo Valley College. My research into the art of a Utah landscape painter resulted in First Sight of the Desert: Discovering the Art of Ella Peacock, my 2005 book that blends the life story of an early feminist artist and a memoir of my life changes during a decade of research. I was lucky to be honored by the San Ramon Rotary Club as the Educator of the Year in 2008 and have recently retired as a tenured professor.
My travel, memoir and arts essays have appeared in various publications, including the San Francisco Chronicle, American Art Review, Salon.com, and Travelers’ Tales anthologies. In addition to my own writing, editing, and design services, I enjoy teaching The Heart of Memoir Writing Workshops in California and abroad. After my colleague Helen Free and I first visited Santo Stefano di Sessanio on a visit to Abruzzo, Italy in 2006, we sought an avenue for supporting the town and founded Italy, In Other Words in 2009. I teach The Heart of Memoir Writing Workshops each summer in Italy and have recently been enlisted to teach the workshop in the South of France in 2012 for France, In Other Words.