About Ellen

As someone who has done many things in her life and keeps looking for new challenges, it is hard for me to write a bio.  I will start by listing my professional credentials in order to get them out of the way!  Over the course of my life, I have been a university professor, U.S. diplomat, university administrator and nonprofit organization manager.

Today I consider myself a writer (fiction, memoir and nonfiction) and leader of travel-study programs.  I spend a lot of time in Greece where I have a house on the island of Lesbos.  My latest travel discovery is Guatemala.  At home in Santa Rosa, California, I work on a variety of community programs in education, gun violence prevention, international women's issues, and community relations.

My immediate family consists of my husband, Jim Wilkinson, and my two Greek immigrant cats.  My passions include reading fiction, swimming, seeing movies, and, most of all, traveling.

Writing a blog is a new challenge that I hope will enable me to share my interests and passions with a larger world.