My Family

My husband Ralph is retired from teaching medical and health physics at the University of Kentucky. We've been happily married for 37 years. He's my official Editor-in-Residence and does a fantastic job of giving me advice about my writing.

My children have also assisted me in my writing career. Martin, with degrees in math and education, and Brian, with degrees in physics and mechanical engineering, have helped with proofing manuscripts. Susan, who has a PhD in biomedical engineering from Duke, has co-authored eight books with me. And Stephen, with a degree in computer science, has co-authored four books with me and is my right-hand-man when it comes to computers!

An especially big THANKS goes to Stephen for designing this website for me!!

In recent years, we've added new members to our family. Susan married Mike, Stephen married Kari, and Brian married DeeDee who has a 20-year-old daughter Sierra. Five grandbabies are the newest arrivals!

Me with my siblings and our spouses

In addition to all of these, I have a wonderful extended family! I grew up in eastern Kentucky where my dad was a Presbyterian minister and my mom taught Latin and English part-time. They did a superb job of providing us six kids with a nurturing environment in which the Christian faith, service to others, and education were all important values. They spent their lives truly living their faith and being a wonderful example for the rest of us.

My two sisters and three brothers have all been happily married and have terrific children (of course, I'm not a biased aunt!). Most of them even have grandchildren and I'm fortunate that some of them live close enough that I've had the happy privilege of babysitting them occasionally!