bio

Born in Trenton, New Jersey in 1950. Attended ballet, tap and jazz dance class at age 10. The dance teacher told my mother I was a natural. Took sewing classes in school and began designing my own clothes. Graduated from high school in 1968. Graduated from Barbizon modeling school in 1970. Did a few modeling runway stints. Learned to play guitar and started writing songs and also began to explore oil painting and sketching. Worked for NJ Bell Telephone 4 years, where in 1969 I instigated and led a sit-down strike telling the supervisor we would not work until we could wear pants to the office. In those days we had to wear dresses. All but a few ladies sat down with me, and they changed the dress code for the entire Telephone Company saying we could wear pants the next day. Quit in 1972 and moved to Wildwood, NJ. Waitressed for 2 weeks and decided it was more fun to be a beach bum for the summer. Worked volunteer on the George McGovern presidential campaign.

Participated in marches for anti-war protests, human rights and the ecology from Boston to Washington, DC, all the while reading incessantly on topics such as psychology and quantum physics. Dabbled in yoga. Traveled to Canada and Florida a few times. Spent a month in England in 1971 traveling by train from London around the countryside to Stratford upon Avon and to Dover to catch a hovercraft to Bologna, France.

In 1973 moved to Los Angeles, California. First performance on acoustic guitar singing at The Troubadour's open mike night. In 1975 began working the next 17 years in the entertainment industry starting at CBS Television City while also part time for Ruth Webb, theatrical agent to Mickey Rooney and a lot of old time stars. Learned to water ski on long weekend trips to many lakes throughout California. Took a road trip with friends to Ensenada, Baja, Mexico.

Eliminated sugar and red meat from my diet. 1975-1980 studied Russian classical ballet twice a week, rode my 10-speed bike 30 miles in a single stint weekly and jogged 6 to 8 miles a few nights a week all the while still writing songs and working a day job. Recorded my first song on 4-track in 1978. Performed in cafes singing with my acoustic guitar and college dances with cover bands.

Met and then married my ex-husband in March of 1980 who also worked at CBS Television City and later in the film industry where we attended many black tie dinner events with big name celebrities. We traveled to the Mexican Riviera a few times.

Became pregnant and our son was born in March 1981. Took an extended maternity leave from CBS. We camped by tent in Yosemite with our 6-month old baby. I designed and sewed baby clothes for my son, which led to me designing handsewn one of a kind baby outfits for a designer baby boutique in Toluca Lake, CA. Returned to work at CBS Records when my son was 17 months old. We traveled to Hawaii and I also tried but failed at snow skiing twice at Monmouth and Big Bear. Traveled to Lake Havasu, AZ, and got to water ski again.

Separated in 1984 and divorced 2 years later. Focused on painting and recording my songs. Spent 7 years attending spiritual seminars and studying meditation. Redecorated the house numerous times from painting the walls to reupholstering the furniture. Performed on two episodes of TV show Enter The Vocal Zone. Sang on stage with the "CBS Records No Star Band" at the annual Christmas parties. In 1992 taught myself mask-making and began teaching meditation. Performed singing and dancing in the chorus of the stage play A Little Meditation, the musical, in Los Angeles.

Moved back to New Jersey with my son in 1995. We built a mini home recording studio in the basement and hooked a synthesizer up to the computer. Discovered and got hooked on jet skiing at Virginia Beach, NJ, the Bahamas, St. Martin and tried snowboarding once with my teenage son and once was enough of that. Took Tai Chi classes. Took a trip to the Amazon jungle after which I wrote my first book. In 1999, I moved back again to Los Angeles. Started my own publishing company and printed my first book. Appeared and spoke at numerous holistic fairs. Practiced and accomplished intermediate yoga. Worked at a non-profit.

Wrote and published my second book while teaching meditation with clients. Invited to Istanbul, Turkey, as a speaker at "The Call to World Peace" where they presented me with awards for my work. Traveled around the Turkish countryside. In 2004 I again moved back to New Jersey where my third, fourth and fifth books were written and printed and my children's stories e-published. Continued to travel nationally and abroad and taught meditation until I retired in 2010.

In my retirement I have been incredibly busy with personal projects including scanning all the old family photos dating back 100 years forward, while also reformatting my grandmother's auto-biographical novel into a pdf digital format with old photos for the family. I became a deliriously happy grandma in 2014 to Ariya Evelyn Shane. I traveled to Italy, Greece and France in 2015 for a month and a road trip through Colorado, Utah and Arizona. I spent a month in Thailand in 2016. Traveled back to Italy and Switzerland in 2018 and now I'm a Grandma of twins - boy, Nolan Jacob and a girl, Nyla Jasmine born Sept. 2019. Took a road trip to Utah in Sept. 2019 to all the major National Parks. Oct. 2019 to Feb. 2020 I'm volunteering for the Elizabeth Warren Campaign for President in Las Vegas as Caucus Captain for my precinct.

In reflection realizing that all the excessive exercising I did in my youth brought on aching knees and creaking joints and that I just can't do the active things I once did. I can no longer do a pirouette on pointe or jog 8 miles, which is perfectly fine because that acceptance is part of growing old gracefully. I have lived my life to the fullest and have no reason to say..."Oh, I wish I did that when I was younger." Because I did!