My Story
​Prior to writing my book about music, I published over sixty essays, features, and reviews. I've taught college students to write, ESL learners to speak English idiomatically, high school dropouts the skills to earn their GEDs, and prison inmates to read. 

Meanwhile, I've entwined music into my lessons. I designed a creative writing class “Making Words from Music,” and I taught grammar to non-native speakers by using song lyrics. Now I teach others how to rediscover playing and bring more music to their communities.

As an amateur roots musician who returned to music over fifteen years ago, I’ve come to appreciate the joys that making music can bring. My husband Gene and I have recorded three albums and played hundreds of gigs. I’ve joined music circles, jammed, and made new friends while nurturing old ones.
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In the process, I’ve learned a lot about playing music in the second half of life. Yet there’s been no book to help others go down a similar road more smoothly. So I talked with dozens of musicians, read countless articles, dug down to find rare resources, and pulled it together into Making Music for Life to make it easier for others to pursue their own musical journey.

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