Graduate of Milan High School, Class of 1961, Milan, MI.
A founding member of The Free Southern Theater.
She wrote the song "Can We Pretend" as well as five scripts for In the Heat of the Night, and co-wrote a sixth with Carroll O'Connor; her novel "Freshwater Road" was selected as one of the best books of 2005 by several major newspapers.
Enrolled in the Professional Writing Program at the University of Southern California as a full-time undergraduate, earned a theater degree in 1987 and made the dean's list.
[After separation from her third husband in 1984] " 'Dark Shadow' was my middle name... I was really at ground zero. The marriage was over, my career was in the toilet, and I was adrift." (People Magazine, May 7, 1990)
"My father always told me, 'Don't have me walking into the theater with one of my buddies and seeing your naked self up on that screen.' " (People Magazine, May 7, 1990)