Private Conversations

About the Book

Collectively, my essays create a self portrait of me with Bob Robinson, the defining influence of my life, and the lives of our children Shirley Lalia, Elizabeth Smith, Susan Threat, Mary Catherine, Phillip Rease, and their children. They know, through Bob’s book, “Doctor Robinson,” and his genealogy research, that one must understand her/his roots to know how the past affects their futures. Through my writing, they will understand more about the people and events that have shaped my life—influences that will also be felt far into the future of Robinson descendants.

About the Author

I was a news reporter and feature writer for a Capitol Hill news bureau, the Montgomery County Sentinel, Journal, and Bethesda Tribune in Maryland, and a stringer for the Washington News. I represented the Montgomery County (Maryland) Education Association and the Consumer Federation of America for community and government relations. I directed publishing and outreach for the National Library Services for the Blind and Physically Handicapped. At The American University, I directed a large publishing operation. At the height of my career in the nonprofit sector I was best known for creating organizational identity programs. I considered side work as an artist therapy from a demanding life. I was a volunteer in historic preservation and environmental affairs, my church, and Democratic politics. I continue to write, edit, and publish for community groups. I have traveled throughout the Americas and Europe. As a kid, I did not imagine an adult life of working and playing hard and never having enough time to finish my to-do lists. I have no memory of thinking about what I would be when I grew up. As the mother of four girls and a son, I claim four overlapping careers—in the world of communications, as a parent with nineteen grand children, my love affair with Bob Robinson, and being an artist. Staff, employers, and professional organizations have recognized my contributions graciously and in an exuberant spirit. Before marriage and between children, after attending the University of Florida, Upper Iowa University, and the University of Maryland, I earned a bachelor’s degree+ in public administration plus hundreds of hours of specialized training in management and employment practices, labor relations, editorial standards, art and design.