Work
Writing, media appearances, and conversations on reproductive justice, body autonomy, and social change.
The sharp, familiar outlines of anorexia and bulimia came into view when I met T. I was 52 years old, two years separated from my husband of 25 years, and still grieving the sudden death of my mother. T. wasn’t the cause of the resurgence of this decades-long disease. He didn’t create the cliff that I had been hurtling toward—but he certainly encouraged me to jump.
I was honored to interview Mallary Tenore Tarpley, author and journalism and writing professor at the University of Texas at Austin, about her new book, “Slip: Life in the Middle of Eating Disorder Recovery.”
“ I find these conversations so interesting—this conversation with you, the conversations I’m having with other women between this perimenopausal and menopausal age—because we pepper in all this estrogen and cortisol and dopamine and lack of testosterone and midlife ADHD…and you know, I think we’re piecing these things together for ourselves.”
When I started writing about the eating disorder I experienced at 54 years old, I was in a writing group for midlife women. I joined the group to restart my writing practice…
Or why I am editing an anthology of midlife women’s experiences with eating disorders titled “This Is Not Your Mother’s Eating Disorder” coming out in Fall 2026. Because our stories aren’t the end of the struggle — they’re a way through it.
I crack bit by bit. Mile by mile. Season after season. Egged on by the sparkle of the green moss, the blinding of the mountain snow, the brightening of autumn leaves, I drive. Hands gripping the wheel, I can’t run. My foot on the gas, my mother’s absence squeezes me tight and my grief has nowhere to go. I wail to release the beast.
I was born in a snowstorm from a woman whose body was stolen. She was knocked out and drugged up hours after arriving at the hospital where she planned to birth her first child. [Published originally in Entropy Magazine, which has since shut down]
“Reproductive Rights” is a compilation of essays and articles and explores the complex and often contentious landscape of reproductive health and rights. My article explores the importance of health care coverage for reproductive health care in the United States.
An article I wrote, “Pregnant? Don’t Fall Down the Stairs,” was cited in this book by noted feminist and longtime columnist for The Nation, award-winning author Katha Pollitt.
I was honored to be a contributor to the best-selling women’s health guide’s Early Months of Parenting chapter in this edition!