Hello! Welcome to my website. I am thrilled to introduce you to my debut book, The Doctor of Bellechester. Dr. Harold Merton, a general practitioner (GP) from a rural village in the Shropshire Hills, arrives in London in 1959. He is on a quest to search for a young junior doctor he can mentor and who will eventually take over his practice. Enlisting the help of his old friend and classmate, Dr. Basil Applegate, Director of Junior Doctors at Mother of Mercy Hospital, Harold hatches a plan to find his young associate. What could possibly go wrong? Plenty! A chance encounter with a young woman proves to be the catalyst for three days that changes the young woman’s destiny and provides Dr. Harold Merton with lifelong memories. Can an act of kindness change a life? The answer is found in this heart-warming tale of The Doctor of Bellechester.
As a viewer to this website, chances are that we have never met. I hope we do get to meet in person some day but until then, here are a few bit of information about myself.
I am a third generation Minnesota American who was born in the middle of the "baby boom". That gives me an "anything is possible if I put my mind to it" kind of attitude towards life. After all, we did land on the moon in my lifetime. Heck, I could even write a book in my retirement!
Unlike most authors I have met, I do not have a degree in English nor have I worked in the publishing field. My background is a B.A. from the College of St. Benedict (Theology major, Psychology minor) and a M.A. from St. John's University (Systematics). What followed was a 13 year career as a Director of Religious Education in several Catholic parishes in the Twin Cities. A lifelong desire to be a librarian led me to the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee where I received my Masters in Library Science and Information Services in 1991. I feel fortunate to have landed my dream job where I could combine theology and library science working for the Archdiocese of St. Paul & Minneapolis managing their video library.
In early 2005, I was diagnosed with a very rare auto-immune disease which caused an early disability retirement. Through competent doctors and the wonder of modern medicine, my disease is in currently in remission.
In 2010, I made my final oblation as an Oblate of St. Benedict's Monastery, St. Joseph, MN.
More personal revelations can be found on my blog
where you will meet my identical twin. Can you tell us apart?
