What is/was your occupation?
Career 1: Public relations for a hospice in Colorado Springs and a college prep school in Omaha. Career 2: Hiking guide (hikemaster) for YMCA of the Rockies near Rocky Mountain National Park. Current employment: Historic interpreter at Mahaffie Stagecoach Stop and Farm in Olathe.
What is your favorite book(s)?
Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver. The narrative switches between four voices. Each voice is so distinct, I could tell simply by reading the first paragraph of the chapter which voice it was. This is extremely difficult writing to pull off and Kingsolver did it masterfully. Her writing is so rich!
What activities were you involved in high school and college?
High school: First chair clarinet in band, All State band, Hastings honor band, choir, pep club, track (220 relay, 440 relay, and the 440), and worked part-time at Russell Stover with the black and white checkerboard floor, in my white dress and black tie uniform. College: Assistant advertising manager of the college newspaper, member of Alpha Phi Omega service fraternity, worked at Jeans West in the mall.
What is your favorite board game, and do you usually win?
Cribbage—played on the board my Great Uncle Chuck made. I have another wood board my younger sister made but we display it as art. The winner at any game is the one who has the most fun
What is the worst movie you have ever seen and who did you see it with?
Sleepers with Kevin Bacon, Brad Pitt and Robert De Nero. I watched it with my former husband, until I couldn’t stomach the abuse on the screen anymore
What pets have you had and what are their names?
The two goldfish we had when I was a youth died when they jumped out of their fishbowl. It was a long way down from on top of the fridge to where they went “splat” on the floor. The only other pet I’ve had is Chance, whom we rescued in 2020. (So I was 60 when I got my first dog.) We don’t know his story but it can’t be good, as he is often afraid of people and big dogs, which he masks by barking at them. When it’s just the three of us at home, he is the sweetest, cuddliest, most adorable dog on the planet
What is your most prized or sentimental possession? Explain.
My grandmother gave me an antique oak secretary desk when I was 15. It is where I sit to write (and is where I am currently sitting to answer these questions). When I was a teen I kept it locked and hid the skeleton key because I wrote all my diary entries at my desk. Sometimes I would lose the key but after a few harrowing days it would always turn up
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