I live in Kalamazoo, Michigan, with my husband of 63 years, within 30 minutes of our five children and our extended family. I didn't plan to be a writer, but I've been a lover of words all my life. I grew up in an era of few options for women, so I went to business college and became an executive secretary. Marriage and babies meant a change of course. Being married to an artist/entrepreneur took us on an unpredictable journey through Mississippi, civil rights, art galleries and retail. My facility with words became a plus, starting with advertising copy and sales and marketing material.

I earned a BA degree summa cum laude in foreign language at Western Michigan University (WMU) in 1976. Ironically, I spent twenty years translating legalese into plain language as a technical writer /communications director for a healthcare management company. My output consisted mainly of administration manuals, marketing proposals, employee benefit booklets and newsletters. I relieved the tedium by studying creative writing at WMU. Retirement affords me the time and freedom, at last, to indulge my creative impulses.

My early exposure to poetry consisted of traditional rhyming forms, which remain imbedded in my free-form style. As a child of the ‘40s, I was also influenced by the rhythms of popular ballads. A college professor once quoted Robert Frost as saying “…writing rhyme was like pulling free in harness.” Whether it was true or not, I took comfort in his words. My ideas can manifest in the form of an essay, poetry or both.

The subjects I write about reflect my concerns, thoughts and feelings about issues of the day. Because I care about all aspects of the human experience, my work takes different forms. Sometimes I approach it with humor, sometimes seriously. Given my advancing age, my style may even be a bit didactic.