My blogs

About me

Introduction	I was born in the Midwest and grew up in the Catskill Mt. area of New York state known as "the borscht belt." I always had good French teachers, but they had terrible American accents. But when a French girl moved to town and joined our class, I decided that I was going to sound like HER--a plan that has really worked for me. A highlight of my life that marked me forever was spending my junior year of college in France. Although it was many decades ago, my photographic memory makes that period totally present to me. As a professor of French at an elite university, I have been lucky to share my passion with generations of wonderfully gifted, adventurous students who are far less risk-averse than their teacher. But having cast my lot with Italy, I may be changing.

Introduction

I was born in the Midwest and grew up in the Catskill Mt. area of New York state known as "the borscht belt." I always had good French teachers, but they had terrible American accents. But when a French girl moved to town and joined our class, I decided that I was going to sound like HER--a plan that has really worked for me. A highlight of my life that marked me forever was spending my junior year of college in France. Although it was many decades ago, my photographic memory makes that period totally present to me. As a professor of French at an elite university, I have been lucky to share my passion with generations of wonderfully gifted, adventurous students who are far less risk-averse than their teacher. But having cast my lot with Italy, I may be changing.