About

Unless you’re a memoirist, nothing triggers writer’s panic like a blank page waiting for your bio. Still, there’s the matter of credentials, so in brief:

I was born and raised in a small New England town, went to a boy’s prep school, and continued my education at a women’s college (I like to think it created balance). I’ve lived in Rome and Paris, juggled all over most of Europe, and cooked in a restaurant in Spain (sorry, diners). Spent a year in San Francisco, before it was conquered by programmers, and Washington D.C. My heart belongs somewhere along the Mediterranean, in a little French town on the border with Spain.

I’ve been in publishing—magazine, newspaper, and book—for more than 35 years. This I’ve been fortunate to do on both coasts and once, in an act of magnificent folly, in Italy (see below).

For the past nine years I’ve traveled around New England, writing travel stories for Yankee magazine, plus regular home and garden features, and Open Studio, an up-close look at New England artisans.

For travel or home stories, please click the corresponding link. To check out a Yankee travel blog, click here. To delve into the exploits and ruminations of Rudy, a New England Jack Russell terrier, click here.

Here’s a brief retrospective of some additional career highlights:

The International Daily News: My early days, in Rome, at a now-defunct daily newspaper. I wrote, edited, and proofed stories on the fly, like other crazed staffers, while dodging the wrath of our Australian editor.

BYTE Magazine, the 600-page Vogue-esque equivalent of computer journals, where Steve(s) Jobs and Wozniak started out as writer/contributors, and Isaac Asimov wrote the occasional page or two. Back in the days of expense accounts and in-office ashtrays.

ID Systems, The European Edition: Bar codes for Europeans. Until the publication folded, while I was out of the office having a root canal (true), it was a fabulous gig as Managing Editor.

Video Choice Magazine: Paid to watch videos and write about them.

Remedies, Taste for Life: Over the years I’ve contributed copious amount of copy covering homeopathy, vitamins, and the like. If I had a ginko biloba supplement for every health story I’ve written, I might remember them all….

COMPOSER: Over the years, I’ve written the music and co-written scripts for several musical dramas for stage, including Vincent (Van Gogh) and The Singer on the Roads of Dawn, a troubadour-style song cycle. The Song That Greens the Earth brought together a diverse cast of performers with and without disabilities at the Progress Energy Center for the Performing Arts, in Raleigh, North Carolina.

The result was chronicled in an award-winning documentary entitled A New Kind of Listening (click here for the trailer). That music propelled me into the IMDb, where I am now listed as a composer, much to my delight.

ALL THE REST: Besides writing and editing for magazines, I’ve freelanced for book publishers, editing everything from New Age to psychology books, and recently wrote the caption text for New Hampshire Impressions, a photography book by William Johnson. And then, of course, there’s fiction writing…an ongoing old love.

Member: Society of American Travel Writers