About I am old enough to have lived many lives: I raised eight children, went back to college when my last baby entered Kindergarten and finished my undergraduate work at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. I taught elementary music, middle school, journalism, and creative writing. I went on to earn a Masters Degree in English from Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa. I taught college composition and literature in Iowa and taught English as a Second language in Galena, Illinois. I grew up hearing my mother (a trained musician) play from an extensive repertoire of classical music, as well as, pop, country, jazz and blues. She also composed her own arrangments, and played easily by note or by ear. My father, whose relatives came to Kansas City from the Ozarks, could play any instrument with a string. Sunday afternoons at my Grandmother’s house meant listening to uncles, aunts and cousins sing harmony and play a variety of instruments. Eating apple pie and fried chicken while listening to the strum of guitar strings and harmonies of old hymns forges a childhood resonating with rich memories.

I spent several years traveling with my former husband, Jim Post, a well-known folk singer. I played keyboard and cello for his musical Mark Twain and the Laughing River show, performing in nearly every state in the U.S., as well as performing in Canada and the English Speaking Theatre in Vienna. I devoted several years to Taize, an ecumenical, contemplative musical service, where I conducted a small orchestra.

In the last ten years, I devoted my time, once again, to my writing. I’ve been asked what inspires me to write. I think writers write. That may seem a trite answer, but just as artists paint, or musicians compose, so it is with writing. My grandmother gave me a diary when I was ten. It was as though I had been waiting till someone gave me enough paper to begin. I wrote right through the designated boxes for each day. I didn’t stop until I had written the story of a prince with a magic buckle. The love of words and the need to express them has been a lifelong pursuit. My short story, "Moonlight Memories," won the 2012 Award for the Year’s Best Short Story, at Tales from the South. I read the story in Little Rock, Arkansas on National Public Radio. That reading can be seen at You Tube with the following links:

I’ve also had poems published in various magazines. The latest poem was published in Avocet online, volume 256. See poem under the link (Blogs)