My life is an ongoing technicolor action film filled with escapades and adventures that span the hemispheres. I have just completed a book on all these experiences, some harrowing, some delightful, but all definitely learning experiences.   I've enjoyed an incredible number of careers and all of these I managed to get into by the seat-of-the-pants, without prior training or experience,  including  being the first woman  realtor (at age 21) to own/operate a real estate agency in Philadelphia. When we had children and moved to the suburbs, I began a 20-year career as newspaper reporter/feature writer/photojournalist and finally, editor of the major paper in the suburbs of Philadelphia.  After 20 years of marriage to the  former U.S. Army Security operative whom I met when I was 19 and without a cent on the Canary Islands on a winter break from L'Universite de Grenoble, I gave up that stifling life in the suburbs as well as the marriage, the role of Miss Community Do-Goody,  and the  newspaper world I so loved to move downtown Philadelphia as an urban guerilla and single mother. I needed to spend some quiet quality  time recovering from an increasing dependency on alcohol and valium.  As I literally had left everything behind with just $600 to my name, I worked for $4/hour as a bakery countergirl pretending I was playing a part in a play,  had  a stint incognito as an art school model,  as an ornithological researcher, and then opened the tiny historic house I was renting as Philadelphia's first B&B. I next landed a wonderful job as fundraiser/event manager for The Academy of Natural Sciences.  In spare time, I launched a successful career as a lobbyist for the Arts including The Academy, the Phila. Museum of Art and all other major arts institutions in Pennsylvania.  When my 85 year-old mother became paralyzed in botched surgery, I  gave up what I loved to move back to California to care for her because I felt it was something I had to do. As I knew from childhood that she would push all my buttons, rather than live with her, I bought a 35-foot sailboat, lived on it in the harbor near her house, and taught myself how to sail. I also talked my way into a job as chef at Santa Cruz's popular eaterie overlooking the harbor and my sailboat. When the restaurant manager wanted me to stool-pigeon on the other staff, I gave that up to appear with the San Francisco Opera. commuting from Santa Cruz to San Francisco for rehearsals and performances.  I next applied for a new job that was being created as Director of the Santa Cruz County Arts Commission and Cultural Afairs Specialist for the county and out of 435 applicants, got the job.  When Mother died three years later, I weighed anchor and spent the next four years sailing alone (or sometimes with my teenaged daughter)  in the Pacific, from San Francisco to 1837 miles off the Galapagos, being chased one day by 60-foot monster waves, the next day by seafaring drugdealers and pirates.  I now own and operate Cliff Cottage Inn in the Victorian artist colony of Eureka Springs in the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas!  Here, I've founded a theater company, helped found the arts school, spent the last three years as exec. director of the Springfield (MO) Regional Arts Council getting arts and literary events and programs  into every nook and cranny of the 27 counties of SW Missouri. Both in Eureka Springs and Springfield, since 1996 when my daughter was killed by a drunk driver and I became severely blocked as a writer, I've served as volunteer leader of more than 25 Artist's Way clusters many of which are still functioning.  I am now ready to take off on a year-long adventure through the wilds of Canada's Yukon Territories in a 38-foot diesel pusher RV (complete with airhorn and jake brakes!) Did I mention, "honeymoon"?  Yep....finally found another exciting adventurer who loves everything I do and just happens to be working on his own screenplay!  I am currently madly trying to edit my book of all these adventures down from 837 pages to something that I can get published. Working title is:  "Stepping Off The Dime...Or, When All Else Fails, Sail South!" 

Received much noteworthy attention for the hundreds of articles I wrote for the newspapers over the years. Was invited by the newspaper publisher (30 in the chain including Phila. Bulletin)to singlehandedly cover the First Amendment Congress in Williamsburg, VA and figure out how a well-known pollster was skewing his poll results (took me all night, but I did it!)In Missouri, I applied for and got the Governor to name Springfield as "2009 Creative Community of Missouri".