My interest in history rose to a new level several years ago when researching the role Kit Carson played as a fur trapper, guide, and army officer, traversing the American West in the mid to late 1800’s. As I continued to uncover more about his life, at one point “I fell in love with a photo of him.” It was a momentary deep feeling of romantic love, spurred by the dramatic backdrop that history can open to us if we let it.
Our history is full of fascinating characters and often their stories, if they have been told, need retelling for readers today. It is my hope that the person I write about speaks with their own voice and that I am merely a go-between to enable them to tell their story today about something that took place a long time ago.
My writing addresses history in my native Texas and in New Zealand as I stand with one foot in each place. An interest in military history comes as a daughter of a World War II paratrooper and niece and cousin to 17 relatives who have had careers in the military in my home city San Antonio, Texas, nicknamed military city.
New Zealand is my home since 1981 where I continue to discover an intense and often daunting history as fascinating as any in the world.
Recent Publications
"Stunned by a picture of Lady Grey” Memories magazine NZ, Oct 2024
“An Ill-Fated Decision – As the world was dealing with a deadly cholera epidemic in 1833, one man’s critical choice had dire consequences” Texas Heritage Magazine, Vol.3 2020
“The Inscrutable Life of Petra Vela in Texas Borderland History” Texas Heritage Magazine Vol. 1, 2021
“All Manner of Folk Make Up Big Thicket,” Texas Heritage Magazine Vol.4, 2021
“Kit Carson and Josefa Jaramillo, A Marriage Divided by the West” – Booklet produced in 2020 for the Kit Carson Museum, Taos NM, USA
“Odyssey of the Sea Turtle” Issue 172, Dive Pacific hardcopy Dec/Jan 2020
“From The Short Full Life of an Octopus to Protecting Our Seas – Where Do We Stand?” Issue 176, Digital March/April 2021