Born June 30, 1957; married; children: three daughters. Education: DePaul University, B.A.; Northeastern Illinois University, M.A. Addresses: Home: Glen Ellyn, IL. Agent: Marly Rusoff & Associates, Inc., P.O. Box 524, Bronxville, NY 10708.

• (With Frank B. McMahon and Judith W. McMahon) Psychology and You (high school textbook), West Publishing (St. Paul, MN), 1990, 2nd edition, 1995.
• When the World Was Young (novel), HarperCollins (New York, NY), 2007.
• (With Gary Anderson) Expository Composition: Discovering Your Voice, foreword by Naomi Shihab Nye, EMC Publishing (St. Paul, MN), 2008.
• If You Eat, You Never Die: Chicago Tales, Harper Perennial (New York, NY), 2009.

Contributor to periodicals, including the Chicago Tribune, Whetstone, Sou'wester, Bluff City, and VIA: Voices in Italian Americana.