My formative years were spent on a farm in North Missouri during the Great Depression. I didn't know how poor we were because our life was just like that of our neighbors.

My elementary education was received at the one-room country schools, common during that era. After marriage and the birth of three children in rapid succession I completed college. Upon receiving my teaching credentials, I taught high school Social Studies in the tiny high school where all three of my children attended.

Continuing my education I received a Master's degree in Social Studies, a Specialist in Guidance and Counseling and a Doctorate in Higher Education. However, instead of college teaching, for which I was qualified, I decided to travel. Along with my husband, I joined the Peace Corps and we were sent to Liberia, West Africa. In that assignment I wrote curriculum materials and taught in the Teacher's Extension School.

Upon returning to the United States, we sold our belongings, moved into a travel trailer and toured the lower forty-eight states. After a few years we settled in Yuma, Arizona where I took a position as Executive Director of an adult literacy program which provided English language instruction to person's of limited or non-English speaking ability.

After Peace Corps opened sites in Eastern Europe, I had the desire to work in that area of the world. It was not until 2001 that this became a possibility when I was accepted and sent to Ukraine. During my stay in Ukraine I worked as a Teacher Trainer at the Zhytomyr State Pedagogical University teaching methodology classes to university students and conducting seminars for Secondary School teachers

I have traveled extensively in Europe, visiting most of the Western European countries.

Within the past ten years I have tried my hand at creative writing. Academic writing was a necessity during my college days because all classes, almost without exception, required a course paper. Not until after retirement did I begin to do other than academic writing. A couple of classes in creative writing spurred me on. I have been editor of several newsletters and had articles published in local newspapers, regional publications and a national magazine.

My passion is ...

Genealogy

I know too much about ...

Does one ever know too much?

My parents always told me ...

to be truthful

My childhood ambition ...

was to be a cowboy (cowgirl)

My favorite memory ...

is of my father

Why I write ...

to fulfill a creative urge

What I am reading/watching/listening to ...

some country music, at the moment

My first job ...

was teaching 22 pupils from grades 2 - 8 in a one room country school

My best moment ...

there have been lots and the best is yet to come

My inspiration ...

my love of life

Arts & Humanities > European History The facts behind the Spanish Inquisition

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As Sergeant Friday would say, "Just the facts, ma'am." But what are the facts behind the Spanish Inqusition? A few things can be established as facts and others are interpretations historians have made based on what was told or written at the time.

It is a pretty well established fact that King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella established a Court of Inquisition in Castile, Spain in 1478. We can only speculate on their reasons which may have been to further unify the country and create an absolute monarchy. It was probably seen as a way of getting rid of heresy and of increasing their royal ...

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