- Born in Santa Monica, CA. Oldest of four children, two girls, two boys. Dream siblings (Well, as adults. We were normal, bickering kids).
- Grew up in Walnut Creek, CA (East Bay Area of San Francisco; see photo above). Used to be Walnut Capital of the World. I played in the creek. Dream California childhood, pretty much. (However, a catch phrase of the time was "Another shitty day in Paradise," so maybe all was not as it seemed).
- Graduated from Del Valle High School, University of San Francisco, Trinity College (Dublin, Ireland) and Columbia University. I liked switching schools a lot. But the life I wanted to lead began when I walked through Front Gate of Trinity.
- Lived in Paris for two years, working for the Paris office, on the Place de la Concorde, of a NYC law firm: Davis Polk & Wardwell. Dream job.
- Got married. Lived in Darmstadt, Germany for one year. Very interesting to live in Germany, pre-unification. Fell in love with Jugendstil.
- Lived in Manhattan and worked as a law librarian for Cravath Swaine & Moore, Willkie Farr & Gallagher -- and back to the NYC office of Davis Polk & Wardwell as head librarian. Another dream job.
- Moved to Charlottesville, VA, started writing freelance features for the C'ville Daily Progress and being administrator for the Institute of Law, Psychiatry & Public Policy at the University of Virginia. One more dream job. Had two babies. Loves of my life.
- Moved back to NY, only this time to the suburbs: Irvington-on-Hudson in Westchester County, 25 miles north of NYC. Dream village.
- When the babies left for college, started writing books for Knopf. Dream publisher.
- Got divorced (can't have everything). Between books, was recruited to work as a vp at corporate communications firm of Robinson, Lerer & Montgomery (now RLM Finsbury). Dream day job.
- Bought house with 2+ acres in Lexington, Virginia. House of my dreams.
- Also rented apartment in Waterfront District of Yonkers, NY. River (Hudson) of my dreams.
- Became grandmother of two boys. New loves of my life.
Posts
