About Me
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I have lived in New England my whole life. I had the good fortune to be born near the Atlantic Ocean in Beverly, Massachusetts. Dane Street Beach was just a few blocks to the east of 12 Broadway, my first address. My father was a lawyer, and his offices were in the front of that big old Victorian house. My mother and father were pretty much always home, which was nice when you wanted to go to the beach on a hot, summer day.
We spent a lot of time at the beach, but we also spent a lot of time in Maine. My parents bought some land in Bowdoin. There was no house, but there was a chicken coop. My mother and father turned that chicken coop into a palace. Well, not exactly a palace. It was more like a bunk room. We called it the cook shack. You can see my mom and dad dancing in the cook shack. We sure did have a great time in that old chicken coop.
Today I live in a big brick house overlooking the Lamprey River in Southern New Hampshire. This old house has been filled with many children over its 115 year history. At one time my entire family could be found living under its roof. My mom and dad and my five brothers and sisters -- Jimmy, Eileen, Natty, Stephie and Arthur -- all called it home.
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Stephie, Natty, Eileen and I are ready for the beach. |
My little brother Arthur and my big brother Jimmy. The first-born and the baby loved their hats. |
We had so much fun in this house. We especially loved playing in the big red barn. Arthur played with his dog, Billy. Stephie collected eggs from her chickens. Natty rode Bella, her little white pony. Eileen fed the calves. Jimmy and I milked Clurichaun and Pookha, our Guernsey dairy cows.
That's me milking Clurichaun. I think it's pretty cool that I grew up to write a book about dairy cows. Writing Out and About at the Dairy Farm brought back lots of great memories.
With so many brothers and sisters and all their friends, our house was always filled with people. My best friend was Lynne. In fact, we're STILL great friends! Lynne likes to tell people we've been friends since diaper days, and she's right. Our moms were friends when they were girls. Lynne gave me one of my nicknames. Ange. My other nickname is Andy. Here's an old picture of Lynne and me. I'm the one who took her glasses off for the picture. The teens on the steps are Lynne's mom and my mom. They had just graduated high school. Do you think we look like our mothers?
Even though I'm not really a kid anymore, I still spend a lot of time in the big barn. The only animals you might find there are Mary Murphy, my Rat Terrier dog, and her pal Daisy Lamparelli. Here's a picture of Mary and Daisy relaxing in between chasing each other. Mary's the one with the pointy ears.
You'll still find lots of kids out in the barn. You see, my sisters and I turned that old barn into a school almost 30 years ago. My barn is now home to the Hogarth Country Day School. Teaching in a barn sure is fun!
When I'm not teaching preschool and kindergarten or writing my books, I like to spend time with the people I love most in the world -- my nieces and nephews. Some of them are older, like Annie, Rachel, Alex, James, Margaret Jane, Thomas, Daniel, Bitsy and Margaret Anne. John and Arthur are still little guys. One thing is for sure. They all make me smile.