Bio
About the author
I was born and raised in the small town of Fairfax, Marin County, California in 1955. We lived a fun and carefree life with a creek to explore and blackberries to pick for my mom’s blackberry pie. Our vacations consisted of camping and backpacking in the Sierra mountains. I carried a knapsack at five years old and hiked around Saddlebag Lake, approximately eight miles.
I was a very average student, very social, and I got into a lot of trouble in school. I was antsy and distracted and had to go to the principal’s office more than once. In this day and age I would have had a diagnosis of ADHD, (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) and likely put on Adderall, but instead I was isolated to stand outside the door or kept busy by writing 500 times that “I would not talk in class.” I even went so far as to setting off the fire alarm on a dare. To this day I have ADHD but refuse to take Adderall because of the addictive qualities.
The 70's
After my parents divorced in the late 60’s I became a hippy, did a lot of drugs and started drinking recreationally. We protested the war in Vietnam and frequented rock bands and Altamont where Mick Jagger, in The Rolling Stones performed. We also hitchhiked and skinny-dipped. It was during these times when I started journaling, writing poetry and writing editorials for the Drake High School Jolly Roger, (now Archie Williams). Archie Williams attempted to teach me math after winning a gold medal in the Olympics. His son Archie Williams was one year behind me and passed away recently bless his talented heart. I also wrote for the College of Marin Mariner and the Independent Journal, (now Marin IJ). I took creative writing at College of Marin and fell in love with it. I have every journal I’ve ever written.
Travel
In my early twenties I travelled extensively through Central America for six months. I spent a total of $500.00 for the entire six months. Later I traveled all over the world scuba diving with my best friend Erica Ziegler who passed away recently. We laughed an extraordinary amount. I love her and miss her.
Later in Life
I was married in 1983 and had my one and only child in 1986. I got divorced when our son Colin Emery Doyle (AKA Shaun Patrick Murphy in the book), was three years old and remarried Bob Bruce (AKA Dan Gemetti in the book) in 1994. We've been married over thirty years, a miracle with what I have put him through. Colin passed away in 2020 at the age of 34 from an “accidental overdose." There were high levels of fentanyl in his bloodstream. Fentanyl poisoning is quickly rising to be a leading cause of death in our younger population today.
My first job was a nurse's aide at Aldersley Danish retirement home in San Rafael in 1973. I took a course for an operating room technician in 1971 and later became an operating room nurse in the 90’s. I've since retired. I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 2007 and I’m finally “stable” because of advanced pharmaceuticals and abstaining from drugs and alcohol. I attended a rehab center in Forest Knolls called Serenity Knolls and am very active in Alcoholics Anonymous to help maintain my sobriety.
I am very open about my life because it is my goal to help other people who may be struggling. My book, Son on the Run, was written after my one and only child started showing signs of bipolar disorder and subsequent schizophrenia. My struggles with his death are beyond description and the book is part of my mourning process. I believe that process will never end but it has lifted significantly over the last five years. He died in the middle of Covid in 2020 at 2am Christmas morning.