Nancy Ann D'Aurizio
About Me
I was born in Niagara Falls, New York in 1952 and raised above my parents bar which was across the parking lot from my Aunt's Beauty Salon. Each a place where I could eavesdrop on conversations between a multitude of men and women. A good thing for an aspiring writer of twelve. Filled with their tales, I would ride my bike to the falls to listen to the thunder of the water and search for the rainbows while dreaming of all the places I would travel, all the people I would meet and all the stories I would tell. But I came from the kind of family in which one was encouraged to be practical. In no uncertain terms I was told I needed to be able to make a living. My father insisting I should support myself and not rely on a husband. In college I chose to be an economics major because it was the closest that the university had to business. After college I had planned to travel to Colombia to travel down the Amazon conducting research on plantation economies. That plan folded when I contracted TB, possibly from hours I spent as a volunteer at a psychiatric hospital. I was twenty one. I didn't have a back-up plan or money in my bank account. My younger brother bought me a car and told me to go. I was working in the plant engineer's office at a chemical plant. After a series of menial jobs I landed a job on Wall Street and then enrolled in Law School at night. I became financially successful but after a few years I realized I didn't want to be a lawyer. I wanted to write fiction. After many starts and stops. After much trial and error, I succeeded in being able to call myself a writer. But now that I'm a grandmother, and because some hopes never die,I am oping to become an author. Years ago I read a book called "Life Work" by Donald Hall. He breaks our working life into three categories -- chores, job and what you are meant to do. If you're lucky, your life work and your job coincide. For most of my adult life my life work has been been my family. From that I have reaped enormous rewards. From my husband and my jobs I have been able to travel to places I'd only dreamed of. I don't care if my life's work brings me riches (although that would be nice), I only want to write what matters to me, and hopefully to others.
Come to Italy to explore.
