Excerpted from the book, Essays of a Moonshiner's Daughter
Just as starting to work for the Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA) had a dramatic beginning, my ending was dramatic as well. When Governor John Engler announced that the State of Michigan would offer an early out retirement plan to coincide with the end of his last term of office, I was thinking about moving, finally, into law practice work full time. I had been practicing law part time over the years and the idea that I could have a financial cushion to fall back on was exciting. I immediately started working on my retirement from state government.
When you sign up for email updates, you'll receive a code to access the full essay. If you have your code, click below. If you don't have a code yet, skip to the section at the top of this page and Sign Up!
Excerpted from the book, Essays of a Moonshiner's Daughter
"As their voices got louder, I adjusted the volume on the radio to drown it out and continued to study. Suddenly, the door opened, and I heard Sara running down the hall screaming. I got up to open my door and as I did, I saw Junior tackle her to the floor. I ran out of my room and instantly grabbed the back of his shirt. My mother always told me that “crazy” people develop superhuman strength, I don’t know if there is any truth to that belief, but I was strong enough to pull him off of her and into the air."
THE WILD SUMMER OF 1972
Excerpted from the book, Essays of a Moonshiner's Daughter
"While the rest of the nation was caught up with Watergate and trying to find out who “Deep Throat” was; Angela Davis’ trial, Jane Fonda’s tours of Vietnam, and Nixon signing Title IX ending gender discrimination in education funding by the federal government; I was a girl just trying to have fun. My days were spent in the Music Library at Wayne State University. My gay supervisor was busy trying to educate me about classical music and I in turn was educating him about Jazz and Roberta Flack. There was another student who came to the library too many times because he had a crush of me. I should have accepted his invitation to join him and his family on their weekly bowling night, but I did not like bowling and I was not mature enough to want to fuel a relationship with a genuinely nice young man who happened to use a wheelchair. Instead, I was interested in the “bad boy” and having and attending parties. The summer would not disappoint."
IMAGES FROM THE BOOK
Guests that sign up for email notifications get an access code to read the full "Obsessions" essay.