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Inspired by History
The compelling, quirky, and inspiring plot lines of the past get my creative juices flowing. I was editing historical papers at Monticello, Thomas Jefferson’s home in Charlottesville, Virginia, when DNA tests and other evidence showed that he fathered children by his slave Sallie Hemings in a relationship spanning decades. When some of the tour guides quit over those revelations, I was inspired to explore how selectively we choose to identify with historical people and events. In my upcoming novel, Folly Park, two young women—one White, one Black—uncover hidden secrets about the historic home where they live and work. What they find out about the complex racial past of the plantation forever changes them. History helps me make sense of myself and the world around me, and it sparks my imagination. I embarked on this path at an early age, and I don't remember when I didn't love history. |
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Origin Story
I was born near Buffalo, New York, where snowy childhood winters allowed me to feed my appetite for reading and writing. I wrote stories that were heavy on sarcasm as a substitute for humor and highly derivative of whatever author I was reading at the time. At Cornell, where I was a reluctant labor relations major, I filled all the electives I could with history and creative writing classes. After a few years working in the corporate world and publishing short stories, I went to graduate school for a combined Masters/PhD in American history from American University in Washington, DC. I was a teaching assistant, and the undergrads frequently complained about how much they hated history.
Hoping to infect others with my love of history, I gravitated to working in museums. After internships at the National Museum of American History and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, I took a position editing the papers of Thomas Jefferson at Monticello and then the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library and Museum. In my free time, I wrote and published on Amazon Kindle the historical Puritan murder mystery, On a Stony Place.
That's me below visiting Monticello in 1978 and when I started working there in 2000.
I was born near Buffalo, New York, where snowy childhood winters allowed me to feed my appetite for reading and writing. I wrote stories that were heavy on sarcasm as a substitute for humor and highly derivative of whatever author I was reading at the time. At Cornell, where I was a reluctant labor relations major, I filled all the electives I could with history and creative writing classes. After a few years working in the corporate world and publishing short stories, I went to graduate school for a combined Masters/PhD in American history from American University in Washington, DC. I was a teaching assistant, and the undergrads frequently complained about how much they hated history.
Hoping to infect others with my love of history, I gravitated to working in museums. After internships at the National Museum of American History and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, I took a position editing the papers of Thomas Jefferson at Monticello and then the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library and Museum. In my free time, I wrote and published on Amazon Kindle the historical Puritan murder mystery, On a Stony Place.
That's me below visiting Monticello in 1978 and when I started working there in 2000.
I now live in Silicon Valley, where I blog for the Computer History Museum about the impact of technology on humanity. I’m married to a fellow historian and enjoy the company of my three awesome stepchildren and a very old cat named Kirby. I am grateful every day to live in a slice of heaven on earth— Half Moon Bay, California.
Published Work
Short Fiction and Essay
The Creek, 1999 Writer’s Digest Competition Award
Potato Salad, Buffalo Spree, Summer 1995
Neighbors, Circles: The Buffalo Women’s Journal of Law and Social Policy, 1995
The Hunting Trip, Buffalo Spree, Spring 1994
The Dog and I, Buffalo Spree, Fall 1993
A Lesson’s Lesson, Buffalo Spree, Winter 1992
Second Honeymoon, Columbia Pacific University Review, October 1991
Academic History
Papers of Thomas Jefferson: Retirement Series, Vol. 1, Princeton University Press, 2005.
Papers of Thomas Jefferson: Retirement Series, Vol. 2, Princeton University Press, 2006.
Dictionary of Virginia Biography, entry for John Herbert Claiborne, 2006.
Dissertation: Malingering: Representations of Feigned Disease in American History, 1800-1920 (2004)
The Creek, 1999 Writer’s Digest Competition Award
Potato Salad, Buffalo Spree, Summer 1995
Neighbors, Circles: The Buffalo Women’s Journal of Law and Social Policy, 1995
The Hunting Trip, Buffalo Spree, Spring 1994
The Dog and I, Buffalo Spree, Fall 1993
A Lesson’s Lesson, Buffalo Spree, Winter 1992
Second Honeymoon, Columbia Pacific University Review, October 1991
Academic History
Papers of Thomas Jefferson: Retirement Series, Vol. 1, Princeton University Press, 2005.
Papers of Thomas Jefferson: Retirement Series, Vol. 2, Princeton University Press, 2006.
Dictionary of Virginia Biography, entry for John Herbert Claiborne, 2006.
Dissertation: Malingering: Representations of Feigned Disease in American History, 1800-1920 (2004)