I have had a passion for history since I was a teenager living in Beirut, Lebanon where my father was a diplomat.  We visted ancient sites like Sidon, Tyre, Baalback and the magnificent Krak des Chevaliers. That passion has continued as I earned my B.A. and M.A. degrees from the University of Chicago and now write what I call "history at the ground level" full-time.  I am interested in the daily lives of ordinary people as they are caught up in the larger issues of their times.  My first published book, Examined Lives, is a personal history based, however, on extensive research. It explores the societal and familial forces that led to my mother's having a lobotomy at the hands of the same doctor who lobotomized Rosemary Kennedy and its effect on me, her young daughter.  I am currently finishing the second draft of a work, again based on extensive research including hundreds of lfamily etters and other documents both in Old German and English, about the coming to America of one branch of my family and their journey through American history from 1850 to 1950.