Born and raised in suburban Chicago, I earned my bachelor’s degree (history) at Grinnell College in Iowa, where I learned to love the written English language.

My education in the Spanish language began as a Vista Volunteer, working with Chicano migrant farm workers in Oregon. This sparked my interest in Latin America and a long, eye-opening trip throughout Mexico and Central America before I entered the University of New Mexico, where I earned my first Master’s degree in Latin American Studies.

My studies took me to the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. and then to my first “real job” at The American University, where I edited over a dozen “Country Study” books on Latin American and Middle Eastern countries. I also earned my second Master’s degree there, in Economics.

Two professional contracts then took me to Peru – one to teach at Colegio Franklin D. Roosevelt in Lima, and another to write a book that in 1992 would be published as Peru: the Evolution of a Crisis. I fell in love with Peru, and also with a wonderful Peruvian woman, and here we stay…