CONTRIBUTORS |
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Tools of the Trade - Weebly.com
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Charlene Anderson received an MA in English Literature from Purdue University and an MA in Research Psychology from San Francisco State University and spent most of her working life at the University of California San Francisco in grant administration. As a child, she always knew she would write, told stories to her friends, and even invented a pen name for herself, Charles Andrè. So, while working on budgets and submitting grant proposals at UCSF, she continued to write and, in 2001 published a novel, Berkeley’s Best Buddhist Bookstore. When Vistas & Byways was launched in 2015, she was pleased to be asked to chair the Editorial Board. She has served in that capacity ever since.
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Contributions to this issue:
V&B Editorial Board Chair Fiction: A Curious Tale of the Holy Grail Nonfiction: Growing Up on a Farm in Wisconsin Bay Area Stew: Brooding City Photo Essay: An Unlikely Vista Treasure Hunt |
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Barbara Applegate received a BA at UC Berkeley, with a major in Spanish, and an MS in Education at CSU, East Bay. As an administrator of Early Childhood Education, she developed a program to teach parents in non-English speaking families the value of helping their children retain the home language while learning English. She is the mother of 3 daughters, a traveler and a contemplative. She loves taking writing classes - not only because she learns from them, but because they give her structure for writing.
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Contributions to this issue:
Member - V&B Editorial Board Nonfiction Editor Nonfiction: A Historical Perspective El Camino de Santiago |
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Kathy Bruin, an experienced program manager, joined OLLI San Francisco State as Director in 2019. Prior to OLLI, she helped launch the Center for Iranian Diaspora Studies at San Francisco State. As Operations Manager at the Impact Hub between 2012-2015, Kathy supported more than 700 members and 500 guests annually. Over her career, Kathy has supervised magazine production, events, and conferences.
In 1995 Kathy founded About-Face, a media literacy campaign that educates about the impact of media on female body image and equips girls and young women with media literacy skills. In 2004 she was “punked” on a spoof debate show on Comedy Central called Crossballs. |
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Joe Catalano practiced law for more than 30 years before he retired in 2018. He has since pursued his interests in photography, high performance driving, travel and writing. He has enjoyed his first OLLI as SF State courses in the spring semester 2019 and thanks the members of the OLLI at SF State Poetry Writing interest group for their input and support. He lives in San Francisco with his wife Joan.
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Contributions to this issue:
Member - V&B Editorial Board Poetry Editor Fiction: Bel Momento - Epilogue |
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Heather Saunders Estes's debut book of poetry, Inner Sunset, was published by Blue Light Press and is available online. It celebrates the joy of life, the natural and human-made world, recognizing all must change. For her, poems are incantations to push back against the forces, human and inhuman, that turn our eyes away from the beauty of shivering aspen leaves, joy of whales breaching, and the compassion of hugs. Her second book, Cloudburst, was published in 2021 by Poetic Matrix Press. She lives in the Inner Sunset in San Francisco and is a member of the OLLI at SF State poetry group that has been meeting since 2016. You can see some of her work online at: https://heathersaundersestes.com/
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"Find your passion and follow it!" - Oprah Winfrey
Cathy Fiorello’s passions are food, Paris, and writing. A morning at a farmers’ market is her idea of excitement and visiting Paris is her idea of heaven. And much of her writing is about food and Paris. She worked in publishing in New York, freelanced for magazines during her child-rearing years, then re-entered the work world as an editor. She moved to San Francisco in 2008 and published a memoir, Al Capone Had a Lovely Mother. In 2018, she published a second memoir, Standing at the Edge of the Pool. Cathy has two children and four grandchildren. Her mission is to make foodies and Francophiles of them all. |
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Matt Ginsburg received an MFA degree in Creative Writing with a concentration in playwriting at San Francisco State University. His work often explores his interest in business, economics, and politics. Matt has written several short stories, monologues, and comedy routines in addition to his focus on playwriting. His plays have been read or performed at numerous theaters in San Francisco. He has had four works published in previous editions of Vistas & Byways: “Finding My Father,” a memoir piece was published in fall 2019, and three short stories, “Midnight in Morocco,” fall 2020, “Victor’s Trophy,” spring 2021, “Johnny Logan’s Fight”, fall 2021.
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A native of San Francisco, Kathryn Santana Goldman’s interest in poetry began when she was working in ICU as a registered nurse. She used this practice to process the variety of stressful scenarios experienced. Over the years, she has continued to experiment with different types of writing such as short stories and plays. As an avid traveler, Kathryn has become skilled at capturing photographs about the diversity she encounters. Three years ago, she began to combine her love of photography with her writing by using the images she captures as seeds for her poems. She continues to explore new ways to use these two art forms to share her experience with family and friends.
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Mary Heldman is retired from a career in medical school administration, computer programming, and business systems analysis. She grew up in Los Angeles, but lived in Palo Alto, Washington D.C., Cambridge, and Stony Brook, New York before settling in San Francisco in 1974. She tutors at a local high school, studies piano, and designs costume jewelry. From time to time she writes sardonic prose for her friends. Mary wishes she lived with a chocolate lab or a golden retriever, but she doesn’t.
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Contributions to this issue:
Member - V&B Editorial Board Nonfiction Editor, Proofreader |
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Rick Homan writes murder mysteries and suspense novels. His Nicole Tang Noonan mysteries are set on a college campus in rural Ohio and in San Francisco, Nicole's home town. Because she is a professor of art history, Nicole sees clues others miss. Rick grew up in Ohio and barnstormed around the country in pursuit of his academic career. He taught classes in acting and theater history, directed plays, and published scholarly articles. Prior to taking up the craft of crime fiction, Rick performed as an actor and guitarist. With his wife, Ann, he enjoys walking everywhere in San Francisco, visiting art museums, and posting his guitar solos on YouTube.
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Since age six, Vivian Imperiale has been writing poetry to identify and process her emotions about the world around her. She soon learned that her poems could be meaningful to others. A friend touched her with these words, "You gave me words for an emotion I didn't even know I needed to express."
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Contributions to this issue:
Poetry: A House Stays a Home The Colors of War Moments of My Past My Poem Delayed |
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Dr. Vera Jacobson was a teacher and administrator for 30 years. She is happily writing short stories, watercoloring, and doing pencil sketching. If she is not at home, you would probably find her sailing on the San Francisco Bay. She lives in Brisbane with her dog, Peter.
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Mike Lambert is a long-time resident of San Francisco and led the effort to start Vistas & Byways in the fall of 2015. In an earlier life, he worked in the telecommunications industry for 35 years and taught at San Francisco State University’s College of Business for 15 years. He refutes the adage about old dogs and new tricks. He took up creative writing as a hobby at age 75. He recently self-published two novels and a collection of his short stories. His main fictional character is Jessica Jones, a single working girl in contemporary San Francisco. See his Author page at Amazon under the name of M. L. Lambert for more details.
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Contributions to this issue:
Webmaster - V&B Online Photo Editor Photo Essay: Crystal Springs Rest Area - I 280N Inside OLLI: Interview with Jane Hudson Interview with David Perper |
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Carol Langbort was a Professor of Education in Mathematics for 30+ years at SFSU, teaching teachers how to teach mathematics. She was Chair of the Department of Elementary Education, and for 15 years directed the SF Math Leadership Project, a professional development program for classroom teachers. She developed a master’s degree program in Mathematics Education. She is co-author of several books, including How to Encourage Girls in Math and Science and Building Success in Math. Recently, she was a volunteer for the de Young and Legion of Honor Museums. She is currently on the Board of Nicaragua Children’s Friendship Committee. She has studied Spanish for many years in language schools in Mexico and participates in the OLLI Spanish conversation group.
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Contributions to this issue:
Proofreader - V&B |
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Edward Lebowitz is a writer and physician who practices part-time at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford and California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco. He also graduated with a Masters’ degree in English (Creative Writing) from San Francisco State University in January 2018. He attends many OLLI classes in person and online, has performed his solo show Dave, Muhammad and I at The Americana Hotel at The Marsh Theater in San Francisco and the San Francisco Fringe Festival Sneak Peek. He published “My COVID-19 Memoir” in The American College of Radiology eNews and “COVID-19 - A Photo Journal” in Vistas and Byways. He’s eager to share his fiction with you for laughs, memories, and speculations—both sweet and sour.
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Linda Zamora Lucero is the Executive/Artistic Director of Yerba Buena Gardens Festival, an admission-free outdoor performing arts series in SF. Her published stories are “Speak to Me of Love,” (first prize, DeMarinis Short Story Contest, Cutthroat, 2021); “When It Rains” (Yellow Medicine Review, 2020 Pushcart nominee); “Mexican Hat,” Puro Chicanx Writers of the 21st Century (Cutthroat, 2020); “Balmy Alley Forever” (Santa Clara Review 2016, reprinted in Yellow Medicine Review, 2016); “Take the Money and Run–1968” (Bilingual Review, 2015). Cookbooks (author/illustrator): “Compositions from My Kitchen/Composiciones de Mi Cocina” pub. La Raza Graphic Center (1981) and “Breaking Bread in Xanadu (and Other Familiar Places)” (1997). V&B Reprints: “Mexican Hat” (2021); “When It Rains,” (2020); “Take the Money and Run” (2018)
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Dina Martin was fortunate to have earned a living through writing, first as a newspaper reporter and later in the Communications Department of the California Teachers Association. Now retired, she has busied herself during COVID with OLLI classes, studying Italian, reading plays with the OLLI Play Readers, and taking endless walks in (and outside) of our beautiful city. She and her husband, Ken Kirsch, are longtime residents of Bernal Heights where they raised two children.
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Marsha Michaels has been a student at OLLI at SF State since 2009. Her first writing class was with Barbara Rose Brooker. Barbara helped Marsha self-publish a memoir called, Pulling At Straws. She also took a class with Dave Casuto, and they developed a website, where many of Marsha’s stories and recipes can be found. Marsha has been published in previous issues of Vistas & Byways. Marsha takes writing classes and other diversified subjects at OLLI at SF State. She finally feels that she’s been educated where she missed out in her youth. Marsha thanks OLLI at SF State for the enormous difference it has made in her life.
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Angie Minkin is a coauthor of Dreams and Blessings: Six Visionary Poets. A poetry editor and contributor at Vistas & Byways Review, her work also appears in Birdland Journal, Motherscope, New Verse News, and the Pangolin Review, and will be forthcoming in the anthology Fog and Light. Angie has attended numerous writing workshops and is a member of the Marin Poetry Center, the Bay Area Poets Coalition, and the Academy of American Poets. When not writing, she practices yoga, takes dance classes, and travels to Oaxaca, Mexico, whenever possible.
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Contributions to this issue:
Member - V&B Editorial Board Poetry Editor, Publicity |
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MJ Moore lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. Her various incarnations have included technical writer and editor, grassroots environmental activist, first grade teacher, poet and flash fiction writer, wife, and mother. Strongly bicoastal, she thrives on salt air, wind and waves, but also loves mountains, deserts, forests and streams. Writing, for her, is a source of vision and joy. Her poem, “Cello Suite,” was previously published in Bach in the Afternoon, Poems from the Blue Light Press Summer 2018 Workshop.
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Carla Pasion was born in San Francisco. Recently retired from all gainful employment, she now practices writing, gardening, and binge watching, most recently completing a total re-watch of The Sopranos. She has two adult daughters and one long-term husband.
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Mary Noel Pepys is a senior attorney with a specialization in the rule of law, specifically international legal and judicial reform, and corruption within the judiciary. Since 1993 she has helped emerging democracies develop justice systems that ensure the protection of citizens’ human rights, equal treatment of all individuals before the law, and a predictable legal structure with fair, transparent and effective government institutions. Mary Noel has worked in over 45 countries, lived five years in six former communist countries, and 20 months in Afghanistan as the Justice Advisor for the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement of the U.S. Department of State. While in Afghanistan, Mary Noel focused on strengthening the criminal justice system and the correctional system.
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Contributions to this issue:
Nonfiction: Unexpected Adventures of an Election Observer in Mongolia and Ukraine |
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After becoming an attorney, Pamela Pitt graduated with an MFA (1990) from the San Francisco Art Institute. She showed her photography work nationally in group and solo shows. Seeking daylight after years in the dark room, she worked on collage with mixed media painting and photography. Ideas from social issues became the basis of several collage series:
2014: ripped pages from a law book on the “Patriot Act” to use as collage elements. 2016: used tissue dress "Patterns" in a series about the place of women. 2017: produced a collage series based on the concept of making land a commodity. With her current focus on photography and scanner digital art, Pam works on achieving peace through creativity and beauty. |
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David Scott is a retired psychotherapist living with his wife, two dogs, and a cat in Fresno, California. He has written poetry for most of his life and had a few poems published. This poem was written while attending Kathleen McClung’s class, Birdhouses of Words: Crafting Short Poems.
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Steve Surryhne was an Associate Lecturer in English Literature at San Francisco State University from 1993-2012. He is currently semi-retired and has recently returned to writing poetry. A native of San Francisco, he was a baby-beat in the sixties, knew some of the beat poets and is now a neo-beat. In his alternate career, he worked in Community Mental Health in San Francisco from 1979-2012. He took first place in the Jack Kerouac Poetry contest in 2015 and has published in The Blue Moon Review and Interpretations. He is currently working on a project with a photographer friend on poem-texts and photos.
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Vivien Zielin was born in England and graduated in history and social studies at the University of Sussex. She was a history teacher in London, worked for an interior design company in Jerusalem, and was the owner of “The China Ware House Company” in Carnaby Street, specializing in fine English made giftware, dinnerware, and quirky teapots. She has worked for media companies on various projects. She has traveled the world. In 2005 she moved to California and became a citizen in 2012. She discovered OLLI at SF State in 2009 and was for many years the Event Organizer for the annual Creativity Celebration. Eyeballing Big Croc: Chasing Dreams Around the World is her first book and was published in 2018.
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Vistas & Byways Review is the semiannual journal of fiction, nonfiction and poetry by members of Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at San Francisco State University.
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Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at San Francisco State University (OLLI at SF State) provides communal and material support to theVistas & Byways volunteer staff.
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