I grew up in Germany during the Hitler years, and at war’s end fled from the Czechs and the Communists. After a year as Au Pére in England and France, and involvement with European Unity, I won a Fulbright scholarship to Smith College. After a year on a tropical island and months at sea with husband and baby, I settled in San Francisco, edited the German newspaper, studied and taught at Golden Gate University and became a risk management consultant. In 2004, I published "Live, Laugh & Learn," and in 2007 "The Madman & His Mistress—History in the Making." Alameda, the island between San Francisco & Oakland, is my home. My favorite hobbies are bicycling, skiing, windsurfing & spoiling grandchildren.