My alma mater, San Francisco State University, just published their Fall/Winter 2020 Magazine and I’m now in the who’s who listing for those who graduated in the ’70s. SFSU gave me the best nursing education and I am proud to be one of its alumna.

Forty-seven years ago almost to the day, just before New Years, I was traveling West Africa on vacation from my Peace Corps assignment in Liberia. The iconic Timbuktu was one imperative stop on my route. Following are excerpts from my book of this journey and proof this place really exists. Part VI: Chapter; Planes, Trains,…Read more »

A Foreign Service Officer stationed at the American Embassy in Tbilisi, Georgia (Central Asia) wrote me for a request. I paused in amazement wondering why I was contacted by this stranger from the State Department. How did he find me? In his quest for authors to endorse his upcoming memoir, Christopher came across my book,…Read more »

So what was I thinking? I felt invincible at age 20 until I was strong- armed by two soldiers each sporting an AK-47. I entered Niger, a country on the edge of the Sahara Desert, without a visa where I didn’t speak the language. So what’s the big deal? This never mattered to me back…Read more »

I refuse to let the cloud of Covid -19 and the pandemic get me down. Some days it wins, but mostly I rise above it. I actually have much to be thankful for regarding my memoir. Here is one acknowledgment I can add to my resume. My publisher, (now Sidekick Press) has nominated my memoir,…Read more »

The occasional poet that I am proved fruitful for me. Two of my poems about Covid-19 have been published in the Anthology noted below. I and some of my colleagues will be doing virtual readings on November 20, 6PM PST. Here are the details from the publisher: This Uncommon Solitude by Lisa | Oct 17,…Read more »

September 30th is my mom’s birthday. She would have been 97. Even though she has been gone over 6 years, her final few months are in etched my mind. Her declining cognitive state was accelerated with a fractured hip and she was ultimately placed in the hospice program. When and how does forgiveness happen or…Read more »

When bad things happen to young people, it’s often hard for them to shake that memory. Being judged and misunderstood was the cross I needed to bear from a very young age, even until today. I was certain I had reprogrammed those old tapes or that my calloused skin would shed judgmental comments or thoughts. But…Read more »

Those pink birds just keep coming. There seems to be no end….. My books keep selling, five months into Covid-19. I delivered most by hand in the first weeks, many by mail. Village Books and internet sales are continuing. But during one home delivery, Nancy S. gave me a head ornament of two pink-felted birds.…Read more »

What is it about Africa that causes its visitors or temporary residents to fall so deeply in love with this continent? I hear it over and over again. The words of love echo from the first Peace Corps volunteers who landed in Liberia in 1962 to the newly returned volunteers in 2020 (post-civil war, post…Read more »