About
Nothing artificial.
I write from the heart about passions and fears, hopes and obsessions—mine, yours, and ours—not leaving out the funny or quirky things I find along the way.
Born in working-class Brooklyn, I’ve taught at Williams College, Princeton University, and, for most of my career, at Duke. I love good food, honest conversation, yoga, meditation, swimming, and nothing artificial in my writing or my life.
I’ve published seven books, two editions, a textbook, and lots of articles. In my private time I love reading, art, music, and theater.
I’ve been lucky enough to teach in China, Japan, and Venice, and travelled to many other places around the world. I especially love London, France, and Italy, with a special feeling that goes back to my Sicilian roots as Marianna De Marco.
Travel archives
France
There’s a reason so many novels and TV shows take you to Paris: it’s always and foremost the city of light, beauty, and love. The countryside even more — thrilling times in Provence and Nice, the Dordogne, and Normandy.
Italy
My ancestry is 100% Italian and I thrive in Italy, where I have been lucky enough to teach four times in Venice and to travel widely — to Rome, Milan, Sicily, Tuscany, Umbria, and more. Io parlo Italiano well enough to get around, and people come up to me thinking I am native Italian — but then I begin to speak, and they smile and move on.
China
Teaching in China was amazing. A country of huge contrasts: Tiffany ads and temples, crowds in Shanghai and intimate canal cities, the Great Wall and terracotta warriors, official monuments and street food.
New Mexico
When you write about Georgia O’Keeffe, D.H. Lawrence, and Frieda Lawrence Ravagli, time spent in New Mexico is one of life’s pleasure. My work has led to many visits and some long-term stays in Santa Fe and Taos, with excursions to Mesa Verde, Monument Valley, and other thrilling places.
