I was born in Memphis, Tennessee, grew up an Air Force brat, made my academic career at MSU. My husband, Stuart B. Herring, and I have a grown son, S. Davis Herring, who works at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, a daughter-in-law, Angela Herring, who also works at LANL, and two adorable grandsons, Ethan and Owen. We enjoy doing things together, including travel and family gatherings. We are also very fond of cats: the current star of our Starkville household is a dark-furred beauty with green eyes, named Elsie. She often sits in my lap as I read or write.I taught French language and literature at Mississippi State University for more than thirty years, plus offering an occasional course in Latin or Women’s Studies. I served on several university committees setting up our program in Women’s Studies, now Gender Studies, at MSU. Because I had a strong interest in bringing French culture and history into my classes, I studied abroad whenever possible, at the Sorbonne and the Ecole des Chartes in Paris, where, in addition to those courses, I took classes in French cooking at a culinary school in the Latin Quarter; at Laval University and Sainte Anne in Canada, as well as two summers in Martinique. I led students on trips to Quebec. I have long seen my role on campus and in the wider community as, in large part, being an interpreter bridging the gaps between American and French or European concerns and civilizations. I have published on diverse topics, from medieval epics to women writers, including translations from Christine de Pizan and Anna de Noailles. I participate in the activities of the Birmingham, Alabama, chapter of the Alliance Francaise. I write both poetry and prose. I cultivate my home garden.