Many moons ago, Valerie used to have a life.  It was a life where she worked in the publishing field. She wrote things up and typed them on a piece of equipment called a Selectric typewriter. Yes, she is a dinosaur. But that's OK because she still loves the publishing world and has found a new home here on Patch, combining her love of the internet with her nose for neighborhood news and old love of writing. Yay! Former publishing feats included working for the original publisher of "Color me Beautiful" (Acropolis Books) where she got to edit books like "Color for Brides" and "Color for Homes." She is also proud of "The Suntanner's Bible," circa 1980, which she recently picked up for a quarter at a church bazaar.

Ahh, the memories. Valerie has kept her finger in the writing pie as the writer/editor of her Class of '76 Class Notes column for award-winning alumni publication, "The Colgate Scene," for over 30 years. If that doesn't qualify her for the job, nothing will.

A graduate of George Washington University's Publication Specialist Program, after getting a degree in Spanish at Colgate (also many moons ago), Valerie has been a proofreader, an editor and dabbled in writing. Her love of photography and obvious skills, she admits, must have been inherited from her Dad's first cousin (really), former fashion photographer, Richard Avedon. Someday she'd like to get a real camera.

She has a chaotic life with a son due to go off to college momentarily, a daughter in West Palm Beach, two cats, two dachshunds, and a husband who thankfully has a job at the moment that pays for it all.