Work Experience
Phone: +1 520-690-1888
Email: info@westernskycommunications.com
Address: Post Office Box 43161, Tucson, Arizona 85733 USA
Author/Publisher
January 2020-Present
Producing, promoting, and selling two works on water harvesting, City Nature and Water Harvesting 101.
Freelance Photographer, Designer, and Writer
November 1995-January 2020
Worked directly with with clients in business, education, and publishing, and as a subcontractor for advertising agencies, marketing consultancies, and design firms.
Sales and Service
Catalina Bicycle Shop, Tucson
May 1997-December 2000
Sold bicycles and accessories and did bike maintenance and repairs. I am still one of the few women ever to have been a bicycle mechanic in Tucson.
Associate Editor
University of Arizona Foundation, Tucson
October 1987-September 1994
Wrote copy for fund-raising magazines, annual reports, and other printed materials produced by foundation’s office of communications. Also wrote and distributed press releases and news tips.
Associate Editor
University of Pittsburgh
January 1986-March 1987
Annotated academic textbooks, treatises, and other publications included in the Economic Books: Current Selections journal.
Assistant Editor
North American Students of Cooperation, Ann Arbor, Michigan
1979-1980
Researched and wrote articles and helped editor produce the organization’s magazine. Also served as NASCO’s photographer at its annual conference, which included covering a press conference with Ralph Nader.
Educational Experiences
I was born and raised in Pennsylvania and earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Michigan. A year after graduation, I set the goal of bicycling in all 50 states. The result was a 12-year, 15,000-mile quest that also covered four Canadian provinces and a bit of Mexico.
Along the way, I met such on-the-road challenges as traversing the Appalachian and Rocky Mountains and the Southwestern deserts. I also experienced many off-the-bike adventures. They include a visit to former President Jimmy Carter’s residence, a brief stint as a Kansas wheat farmer, and a night in an Arkansas jail; I was looking for a place to stay in a small town, and the police chief offered floor space in the visitors’ room.
Lessons learned: First, be careful of what you say in casual conversation. I had no idea that stopping to chat with another long-distance rider in July 1980 would inspire me to pedal every state in the Union. But it did.
Second, ignorance can be a useful tool. When I first started traveling by bike, I had no idea that it would be considered so dangerous, especially for a “lone woman.” Had I listened to the skeptics, I probably would have stayed home and missed one of the greatest adventures of my life.
Third, if I can ride the whole United States on a bicycle, so can you. I speak from personal experience when I say that you don’t have to be a gifted athlete to accomplish such a feat.