About the Author

I was born in 1946 in Chicago, but don't let that city-slicker beginning fool you. My real-life lessons came from a humble rural farm in West Union, Illinois, where my grandparents raised my younger brother and me after my mom and dad divorced. There, I learned to swim in the muddy waters of the Wabash River, encountered chiggers for the first time, and developed a lifelong craving for beefsteak tomatoes picked fresh off the vine.

The family bathroom was an outhouse where one could read the Sears, Roebuck catalog before tearing out a page for its important secondary use. Our water was pumped from an outdoor well and heated on the stove for cooking, cleaning, and the much-needed Saturday night bath. Grandma always allowed me to take the first bath before anyone else. Little did I know that these rustic country roots would equip me with the grit and humor necessary for the colorful journey that lay ahead.

My teenage years were spent in Chicago, where my younger brother and I squeezed into a three-room apartment behind our mom’s tavern. Every night, the twangy sounds of George Jones and Loretta Lynn blasted from the jukebox until the wee hours, but honestly, we couldn’t have cared less about the noise. We were just over the moon to be a family again. After school, I took the city bus to American Bandstand every day. Dancing was my whole world, and nobody batted an eye when I landed a job as a GoGo dancer. 

By 1971, I had moved to Scottsdale, Arizona, with husband number one. Since then, I have collected three marriage certificates, two death certificates, and one divorce decree—a paper trail that has taught me more about resilience than any self-help book could. I often tell the members of my ‘Starting Over... Again’ workshop, “If you can't be a good example, at least be a colorful one.”

When summers in Phoenix become unbearably hot, I drive to my cabin in the pines north of Payson. There, I write and edit the monthly newsletter for Beaver Valley Estates. My writing skills were recognized in 2024 when the National Federation of Press Women awarded me first place in the Arizona contest and second place nationally for outstanding online newsletter publications.

When I’m not writing, you might find me performing in community theater around town, where I portray eccentric elderly women long before I became one. My face has appeared in local television commercials, enthusiastically endorsing everything from heating and cooling companies to luxury retirement communities. I even tried my hand at stand-up comedy, discovering that my life stories bring far more laughter when shared on stage than when told to a therapist.

But my most treasured role is being a grandma to my wild and wonderful grandchildren. I host "Grandma's Day" outings for each grandchild, which consist of one-on-one activities tailored to their interests. Each December, I compile a Grandma's Day Yearbook filled with photos and their candid comments about everything from my yellow teeth to my cooking lessons (“dessert first”). These books preserve my legacy by capturing precious moments in time that might otherwise be forgotten.

Through three marriages, career changes, and countless planned and unplanned adventures, I have mastered the art of transforming everyday moments into unforgettable stories. 

My simple life philosophy is to collect experiences instead of regrets, to laugh, especially when things go wrong, and to always carry a spare change of underwear in case nature elevates laughter to a whole new level.