Before I began my decades-long adventure with Jesse Jones, I wrote about political, environmental and social issues for magazines and newspapers. As the deadly threat of AIDS emerged, I wrote and produced AIDS: Just Say Know, a short compelling educational play that was performed throughout greater Houston in theaters, community centers, churches and synagogues, and as in-service training for teachers and law enforcement officials, when the disease was in its infancy, misinformation instilled fear in many and resources were unavailable to keep people safe. I was privileged to serve as the volunteer coordinator of AIDS Foundation Houston’s speaker’s bureau in the late 1980s and into the 1990s.

I received a good education in Houston’s public schools and at The University of Texas at Austin, where I graduated with a bachelor’s degree in business. After graduation I participated in my family’s business until I struck out on my own as a full-time writer. Coming from a family of civic-minded volunteers, I served on the advisory boards of the American Red Cross Museum in Washington, D.C., Houston History magazine, AIDS Foundation, Houston, and No More Victims, an advocacy agency for children whose parents are in prison. While still in high school, I formed a social group for special needs teenagers and young adults at the Jewish Community Center of Houston that continues to meet today. I had the honor to serve on Congregation Emanu El’s board of directors, former Mayor Bill White’s task force on Houston’s history and as a trustee of the Aubrey and Sylvia Farb Community Service Fund that helps emerging and small nonprofit organizations support the underserved of Houston.