News Release 23-Apr-2021 / University of Oxford https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2021-04/uoo-mvb042221.php Malaria vaccine becomes first to achieve WHO-specified 75% efficacy goal Researchers from the University of Oxford and their partners have today reported findings from a Phase IIb trial of a candidate malaria vaccine, R21/Matrix-M, which demonstrated high-level efficacy of 77% over 12-months of follow-up. When I arrived in…Read more »

April is my month; my birth month. It is always special to me. But this one was extra special. I not only celebrated the big seven zero with a some fanfare, but also was the guest author at another Zoom book club (more about that in my next blog). In addition, this was the month…Read more »

My essay, How Will I Know?, was accepted in the Whatcom Reads Anthology of stories and poetry entitled Reconciliation. It was published this week. I will be reading a 3 minute excerpt of the essay on 2/21/21 at my local bookstore, Village Books. This was rewritten from the chapter entitled “Reconciliation” in my memoir, In…Read more »

My one-room school teacher, Velma read my book, told her PEO book club members about it, and then procured 12 of my books for her club. On February 10th, 2021 I was invited as the guest author. Kally, Janie and Velma led a robust discussion and Q&A with several of their members living in Arizona.…Read more »

“…the purity and vulnerability of this incredibly earnest child…” is a quote from Christopher Davenport, author of The Tin Can Crucible. His description of little Susan in her memoir is telling. Yet, this was only the beginning. Susan recently discovered this 1954 photo on a View Master slide in a box of old pictures. Here…Read more »

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 »