I grew up a bookworm on a working farm surrounded by fields of roses in the San Joaquin Valley and thus have first hand knowledge of the "seasonal" and "locavore" movements after picking asparagus in spring, corn and boysenberries in the summer, pecans and pomegranates in autumn, and oranges in winter from our family gardens and orchards.

Family-style dinners at local Basque restaurants fueled an early love of ethnic food and I'm the only Central Valley farm girl I know who ate escargots by eleven, thanks to my parents' frequent trips to Los Angeles to visit LACMA, the Music Center and various fine restaurants -- trips that started my long-time love affair with Los Angeles.

I share my father's passion for California literature (my great-grandmother was William Saroyan's landlady), achitecture,  and history, and with my husband Marty Axelrod, have co-written/co-produced "Emperor Norton the Musical" (based on the life of California's only "emperor"), which has had several, successful runs in Los Angeles and San Francisco.

I travel as often as I can (Southeast Asia is a fave destination), but NELA  always feels like home.