B.A., English, California State University Dominguez Hills

emphasis in world literature

M.A., English, New Mexico Highlands University

emphasis in British literature

Ph.D., English, University of New Mexico (exp. 1997)

emphasis in Language, Rhetoric, and Literary Theory

Raised in East Boston during WW II, I experienced the 40's, 50's, and early 60's in the northeastern part of the United States, through the ethos of the second generation Italian and Irish-American working class. At that time, we were proud to show off the site of Joseph Kennedy's first business endeavor--The East Boston Savings and Loan. I experienced the late 60's and the 70's in college in Southern California, and all my immigrant, working-class ethics were soon and irrevocably challenged. I was no longer proud of the site of Joseph Kennedy's beginnings in "entrepreneurship." Living in Washington DC during the late 70's, I rocked the cradle as Richard Nixon resigned the presidency. It was on the local news. After experiencing these varied eras and geographies of the United States, I chose Northern New Mexico in the 80's to raise my child and my horses.

I love to write fiction and non-fiction and play with forms in language, structure, and genre. I have taught writing since 1984, and I have "taught" since 1965. I hope to continue both into the 21st century.

A few of my favorite things: riding, writing, reading, dancing, historical research, black and white photography, old pictures/ letters/ furniture, Woody Allen, Billy Joel, Hélène Cixous, Guinness Stout, Dean Martin, poems that make me go "Ahh," Janis Joplin, Eric Clapton, zootsuits, and Victorian Ladies.