About Me
Born in Stamford, Connecticut, I ventured south to attend Duke University, and, except for four
years in New Orleans, have lived in the Chapel Hill-Durham area ever since. After I graduated from
Duke summa cum laude, I then went on to do graduate work in English at Tulane. It was in grad
school that I took a course on Elizabethan and Jacobean Revenge, and I was hooked.
For thirty-four years I taught high school English and graded more papers and tests during that time than I want to remember. I also have taught adults at Durham Tech and helped with student writing at the Emily K Center in Durham In 1986 I was honored to receive the Educator of the Year award from the Chapel Hill Chamber of Commerce and then, for the school year 1993-94, I was selected the Teacher of the Year from the Chapel Hill-Carrboro System. Over the years I have participated in many valuable summer institutes and seminars that have revitalized me and enriched my teaching. I very much subscribe to Toni Morrison's idea that good literature is intended to be participatory in that the reader is a crucial part of the literary experience; one of my chief goals and delights as a teacher is to get my students to engage with the texts and with each other.