Welcome to my blog, It’s a Writing Life! The title reflects my lifelong joy in writing about interesting and involved people, current events, business and civic interests, history, sports as well as research-driven and travel-related subjects. It also includes deep dives on family histories, ancestry and any subject that expands my learning curve. In a word, everything I love.
For the past few years, I have been writing freelance articles for publications such as Architectural Digest (AD it yourself) and Naples Illustrated, a Naples, Florida lifestyle magazine. As a professional writer, I’ve had the pleasure and honor of writing about fun do-it-yourself home projects as well as many dynamic and engaged people and organizations. Learning about their work is truly inspiring. You can check out my recent work here, including two feature articles that won Florida Magazine Association (FMA) Charlie Awards in 2021 and 2022.
In 1993, I received my first paid byline in the now defunct Tidings Magazine, a regional publication covering the shore areas of southern Rhode Island and southeastern Connecticut. While I might change a few things if written more recently, I still love Quonnie: A State of Mind and its core themes of the enduring appeal of the ocean, beach and
I’ve been mulling over writing this story for a long time. I had many letters from 1944-1945 my mother had written home, so I knew I could use those as the outline of the story. But some of the material was personal, like her love life, and did I want to splash all that over a book? Sorbonne – Source:
Over the years, in explaining the backstory behind my book, The French Desk: A Brooklyn Gal’s Journey into Wartime Propaganda, I would mention that my mother had participated in the Paris Study Group to my friends, and they would invariably say, “What was that?” Paris Study Group (1938) – Source: Family photos The Paris Study Group (PSG) was a group
About ten years ago, I embarked on a journey to write the story of my mother’s wartime experience when she worked as a civilian in the Office of War Information (OWI). I had many letters – maybe 65 or so – she had written home in 1944 and 1945, saved by my grandparents for some reason. My mother – Alberta
In the house I grew up in, our attic was stacked with boxes. A decade could be retraced in an hour’s time. Births, deaths, baptisms, confirmations and graduations and various ephemera littered the rafters. Frayed boxes bulged with old photographs and letters. ACJ Letters home during WWI – Source: Family Photos I was the youngest of my family and almost
