This is my favorite photo. It was taken on my balcony overlooking the East Village on a hot August afternoon in 2012. I'd just returned home from the hospital after ten days in the Neurology Unit. The brain bleed didn't kill me. One aneurysm was coiled. I fell in love with several doctors. My family and friends stayed by my side. They dazzled me. They showered me with gifts: a Scrabble game, a new nightgown, coffee with half & half, warm socks, an i-Pad. Oh, I was happy to be home. My survival made me feel ... radiant!
Even before my sister posted "Diary of a Stroke" on Facebook, illness informed my writing. Several months after exchanging wedding vows at City Hall, my husband was disabled by an aortic aneurysm. When John died in 1995, our daughter was eight years old. Jessie and I learned a valuable lesson: You can mourn and still experience joy.
Today, many things give me joy. Babysitting for granddaughters Tallulah John and Ellery Connor tops the list. I serve as the Creative Consultant at an Off-Broadway theatre, expanding opportunities for theatre artists through an initiative, "Urban Stages New Pages." I anticipate Tuesday walks with my sister, and three weekly visits with my granddaughters. With a limited social life, I accept as many challenges as possible, write and write - and submit - and write some more. After four years as a Covid homebody, I've traveled above 59th Street to NJ and CT to attend live productions of my work. Yes, I passed on performances in Sydney (Australia), Bath (England), Kiev (Ukraine), and with Flush Ink productions (Canada). Recently, I bit the bullet and boarded JetBlue with my sister for Hollywood, where I visited my nephew and attended a reading of my new play, If You See a Hyena, at the SPF Festival. So much fun!!! On the weekends, I share a meal or take in a movie with my best pal (rain or shine), give my attention-deprived Chihuahua extra walks, play Solitaire and Ruzzle, and I fantasize about my next play, my next meal, my next hug.
Daily, I walk 10,000+ steps (often with my dog, my sisters and ... alone). I eagerly open my email for good news and bad news. I celebrate my playwriting successes with a pint of ice-cream or any menu that includes bacon, and I use my rejections to work harder at my craft.
Monthly, I attend professional and collegial playwriting groups via zoom, prepare my bills, and update my resume. Actually, I have two of them. One resume is for public use; the other is color-coded by year. It's called "Since I Had Brain Surgery" (in August 2012).
From August 2012 through March 2023 -- yikes! I'm a year behind! -- I’ve had 48 publications, 86 "live” productions, 56 virtual platform presentations, 53 staged readings, and 71 honors/awards. Seven interactive films were shown in Australia in association with iMOVIE (a CRF Film); five films were shown in NYC, several Florida venues, and Ireland; three webisodes were produced in LA for the digital series, “City Kitties (chapthree.com); and 9 audio plays aired. I produced nine "live" short play series at Urban Stages and The Heroes & Villains Monologues, a virtual platform production; co-produced eleven one-act and ten-minute play festivals at Abingdon Theatre; and facilitated "The Acronym Plays Competition" at Urban Stages, and "Pencils Down: FAB's Monologue Mania Workshop" and reading at The Barrow Group. I also directed twelve short plays (Abingdon, Artistic New Directions, Urban Stages). I am fiercely proud of these accomplishments, big and small.
At the end of the day, there are so many things I still want to do. I want to be a better mother, sister, friend and neighbor; I want to write my best full-length play; I want to lose weight; I want to share my voice in all 52 states; I want to walk my youngest granddaughter to kindergarten; I want to earn respect from my colleagues; I want to learn to win with grace and lose with grace. I want to learn how to navigate this website and make an appointment to re-line my lower denture. And while I'll never look like this 12 year old photo again, I want to FEEL like it as often as possible.
Contact: [email protected]
Even before my sister posted "Diary of a Stroke" on Facebook, illness informed my writing. Several months after exchanging wedding vows at City Hall, my husband was disabled by an aortic aneurysm. When John died in 1995, our daughter was eight years old. Jessie and I learned a valuable lesson: You can mourn and still experience joy.
Today, many things give me joy. Babysitting for granddaughters Tallulah John and Ellery Connor tops the list. I serve as the Creative Consultant at an Off-Broadway theatre, expanding opportunities for theatre artists through an initiative, "Urban Stages New Pages." I anticipate Tuesday walks with my sister, and three weekly visits with my granddaughters. With a limited social life, I accept as many challenges as possible, write and write - and submit - and write some more. After four years as a Covid homebody, I've traveled above 59th Street to NJ and CT to attend live productions of my work. Yes, I passed on performances in Sydney (Australia), Bath (England), Kiev (Ukraine), and with Flush Ink productions (Canada). Recently, I bit the bullet and boarded JetBlue with my sister for Hollywood, where I visited my nephew and attended a reading of my new play, If You See a Hyena, at the SPF Festival. So much fun!!! On the weekends, I share a meal or take in a movie with my best pal (rain or shine), give my attention-deprived Chihuahua extra walks, play Solitaire and Ruzzle, and I fantasize about my next play, my next meal, my next hug.
Daily, I walk 10,000+ steps (often with my dog, my sisters and ... alone). I eagerly open my email for good news and bad news. I celebrate my playwriting successes with a pint of ice-cream or any menu that includes bacon, and I use my rejections to work harder at my craft.
Monthly, I attend professional and collegial playwriting groups via zoom, prepare my bills, and update my resume. Actually, I have two of them. One resume is for public use; the other is color-coded by year. It's called "Since I Had Brain Surgery" (in August 2012).
From August 2012 through March 2023 -- yikes! I'm a year behind! -- I’ve had 48 publications, 86 "live” productions, 56 virtual platform presentations, 53 staged readings, and 71 honors/awards. Seven interactive films were shown in Australia in association with iMOVIE (a CRF Film); five films were shown in NYC, several Florida venues, and Ireland; three webisodes were produced in LA for the digital series, “City Kitties (chapthree.com); and 9 audio plays aired. I produced nine "live" short play series at Urban Stages and The Heroes & Villains Monologues, a virtual platform production; co-produced eleven one-act and ten-minute play festivals at Abingdon Theatre; and facilitated "The Acronym Plays Competition" at Urban Stages, and "Pencils Down: FAB's Monologue Mania Workshop" and reading at The Barrow Group. I also directed twelve short plays (Abingdon, Artistic New Directions, Urban Stages). I am fiercely proud of these accomplishments, big and small.
At the end of the day, there are so many things I still want to do. I want to be a better mother, sister, friend and neighbor; I want to write my best full-length play; I want to lose weight; I want to share my voice in all 52 states; I want to walk my youngest granddaughter to kindergarten; I want to earn respect from my colleagues; I want to learn to win with grace and lose with grace. I want to learn how to navigate this website and make an appointment to re-line my lower denture. And while I'll never look like this 12 year old photo again, I want to FEEL like it as often as possible.
Contact: [email protected]