A life that became stories.
Raised on Long Island, Anne grew up in a family where love and dysfunction comingled on a daily basis. She describes this as her experience of Ernest Hemingway’s statement that “The best early training for a writer is an unhappy childhood.” Hemingway felt that intense, often painful experiences shape a writer’s ability to observe, feel, and convey truth in their work. Still, Anne insists that her childhood “was probably better than most.”
One of the greatest gifts you can get
as a writer is to be born into an
unhappy family.
– Pat Conroy
A Nose for News Since Childhood
She began her writing career with the first issue of The Princeton Street News when she was ten-years-old. Handwritten in pencil on lined paper, the newspaper told tales of what happened on and around the suburban Long Island street where she grew up.
The paper, no doubt, contained numerous libelous stories. Because the audience was limited to her family and a handful of friends, she was spared charges of defamation of character. But she surely had a keen interest in just about everything and a nose for news since childhood.
Journalism & the Written Word
Anne chose Marquette University because of its stellar journalism program. Of course, the first college beats started small with her first being the cafeteria in McCormack Hall.
Making stories about bi-weekly dinners of meatloaf, instant mashed potatoes and canned string beans interesting was truly a journalistic feat. Still, she never considered a career other than writing.
Writing Life Today
She has published articles for both consumer and trade magazines and multiple websites. She was a regular contributor to Martha’s Vineyard Magazine and Vineyard Style. Currently, she enjoys a part-time gig as a proofreader for the local newspaper, Saratoga TODAY because it keeps her close to the publishing world and the people who keep it alive.
Anne moved to Saratoga Springs, New York in 2014, where she continues to write novels and nonfiction that explore the everyday experiences that shape a life. She continues to write occasional essays, articles and online pieces.
