A deep - and wide - writing career

 

“Everyone admits that love is wonderfuland necessary, yet no one agrees on just what it is.  Love is the best school, but the tuition ishigh and the homework can be painful.”– Diane Ackerman
Born in October 1948, Ackerman is theauthor of One Hundred Names for Love, also a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.  She also wrote The Zookeeper’s Wife (made into apopular movie as well) and A Natural History ofthe Senses, adapted into a 5-part NOVA television series called “TheMystery of the Senses.”  Ackerman also writes nature books for children.

A native of Pennsylvania, sheearned her Bachelor’s degree in English from Penn State University then went onto earn 3 degrees, including a Master of Fine Arts and a Ph.D., from CornellUniversity.    In addition to her manybooks, she has written essays and stories for magazines and journals around theglobe, taught at several colleges and universities, and done wide-rangingpoetic explorations of the natural world.
“Idon't want to get to the end of my life and find that I lived just the lengthof it,” she said about her seemingly boundless energy.   “Iwant to have lived the width of it as well.”