Patchwork of Memories
From Professional to Personal
After years of writing for professional audiences, in semi-retirement I’ve begun to hone my creative impulses. This Substack compilation includes brief essays on a variety of subjects — personal, political, humourous — from the 2010s (for more, see CarolConsiders online).
In a separate Substack ‘section’, I am posting an evolving book, Patchwork of Memories. The chapters of the book, drafted in isolation during the early COVID years, will gradually appear on this site, beginning with the Prolog, which explains its genesis and purpose. The photos accompanying the prose have been created by my husband, Richard Dudley.
The book is an unusual memoir, framed within the walls of my home in upstate New York. By focusing on the collectibles within, room by room, meaningful experiences from my life — spanning nearly eight decades and extending throughout the globe — emerge. I have led an exciting life: from conducting long-term ethnographic research in remote forested areas of Borneo, Sumatra, and the US to advising senior officials to giving keynote addresses at international conferences, with many experiences in between. I have spent significant time in Europe, the Americas, Africa, and Asia. My life has been full. I hope this partial recounting will be as interesting to read as it has been for me to live.