About me

I’m a…Writer | Eldercare worker and CNA | Reader | Mother of a therapy dog named Eleanor Roosevelt | Former tech VP, Vegetarian Times answer lady, video producer, museum designer, short order cook, and substitute wedding hostess | Darn good godmother (and author of Teaching Maggie) | Assistant editor, Another Chicago Magazine|Founder, Shannaghe Residency. 

Care is at the core of much of my current work. Care in the largest sense: care in family, friendship, the classroom, in justice, in ecology, and in health care. It’s one reason I founded Shannaghe, and why Shannaghe sponsors a fellowship for writing about care. 

 To see the hands-on side of care work, read Chicago Sun Times: “Celebrate CNA Week. Then Pay Us More.”

 For a glimpse of my writing, including two nonfiction books and a slew of flash, check Flash Stories and True Stories. Meanwhile, I’ve pioneered courses for shut-ins across the country using an innovative Skype-type platform, and I trained in the Wise Aging practice, which I’ve adapted in my secular teaching. I’m a member of NDWA Homecare Workers United, the National Association of Health Care Assistants. 

The details: too many degrees (BA, MA, MFA, CAN), live in rural Maine, work on ecological issues in the watershed, seven acres, two dogs.  

I continue to see elderly clients.