About Me



I've lived a varied life and hope I have learned much.  I believe I have gained some wisdom in exchange for lost youth.


Background

I was born Deborah Carol Friend at the Tuskeegee Institute in Alabama during WWII and grew up in Richmond, Virginia.  In high school I moved to San Diego.  I went to Point Loma H. S. and college at San Diego State.  I am a member of Kappa Delta Sorority.  I got my teaching credential after graduating.


From there, choices led me to Lassen Volcanic National Park in N. Calif., to St. John and the U.S. Virgin Islands for a year, Marin County and San Francisco for 2 years, and the Everglades for 9 years.  Then to Ventura County and the Channel Islands for 3 years, San Diego for another 3, and finally behind the 'Orange Curtain' to LA/Orange Counties.  All along the way I have taught, studied, written, and learned.


Accomplishments

I have had some of my poetry published in a small way, have helped to edit a mainstream text book on writing, and have published cook books and music - books and audio tapes.  I have supervised Girl Scout troops, served as a Tutor in math and reading within public schools, been a Reading Specialist, written curriculum and served as English Department Chair  in one of the largest high schools in the Los Angeles area.

 

As a member of the SCA, a non-profit educational organization dedicated to the recreation of Medieval Europe, I have become a student in the area of Celtic Studies.  My roots include a Native American branch and I have spent much time recently learning its history and philosophies.  And as a total Romantic, I find the three areas of interest completely intertwined.


In 2003 I received the Annual Business Associate Award from a local chapter of the American Business Women's Association, for education.

 
 

Come with me on a journey - inwardly, back in time, and to my spiritual home in Wales/Cymru.  You'll meet my family, poets, beautiful places, and interesting ideas.

 

...And for stopping in for a visit, Diolch (Thank you).

 

There is never a beginning, there is never an end, to the inexplicable continuity of this web of God, but always circular power returning into itself.  R W Emerson

The last scud of day holds back for me,...It coaxes me to the vapor and the dusk.  Failing to catch me at first keep encouraged, Missing me one place search another, I stop somewhere waiting for you.  Walt Whitman

Where I am now:

I read copiously, in non-fiction [Native American culture, Celtic/Druidic history]; mystery [preference for the English cozy]; and fantasy - but NOT science fiction, the long ago is much preferable to a possible future [I truly feel I was born in the wrong era]; and poetry.

 

I have spent a lifetime teaching literacy and love of learning in a variety of ways, in and out of the classroom.  I write, edit, and encourage students of all ages.   With the prospect of retirement looming, I am excited about returning to college.  I tell my questioning students, "The first times were for you; this time is for me."

 

Other than attending college, I look forward to watching my grandchildren grow up in Texas, where my only daughter and family live.  That, and maybe someday getting around to publishing some of my poetry for mainstream audiences.