Duncan, Joyce 1946–

PERSONAL: Born July 3, 1946, in Greeneville, TN;daughter of Clyde and Margaret LaFollette; married (divorced); children: Jordan Nicole Stierle. Education: East Tennessee State University, B.S., 1985, M.A., 1986, D.Ed., 2005. Politics: "Independent." Hobbies and other interests: Designing jewelry.

ADDRESSES: Office—East Tennessee State University, Box 70270, Johnson City, TN 37614. E-mail—duncanj@etse.edu.

CAREER: Writer and educator. East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, faculty member, 1985–. Sport Literature Association, managing editor; Aethlon: The Journal of Sport Literature, editor, 2005–.

MEMBER: Phi Kappa Phi, Gamma Beta Phi.

WRITINGS:

Heirs to Misfortune, Overmountain Press (JohnsonCity, TN), 1987.

Ahead of Their Time: A Biographical Dictionary of Risk-Taking Women, Greenwood Press (Westport, CT), 2002.

Sport in American Culture: From Ali to X-Games, American Bibliographical Center-Clio Press (Santa Barbara, CA), 2004.

Contributor to encyclopedias, dictionaries, and other reference books.

WORK IN PROGRESS: Mad Dogs and Snakes, fiction; research on the history of "the Highlander Method" of the Highlander Folk School.

SIDELIGHTS: Joyce Duncan told CA: "When all of my other childhood playmates were dreaming of becoming movie stars or firemen or cowboys, I knew, from age eight, that I wanted to be a writer. Of course, the childhood aspiration of great American novelist was superseded by the reality of that post already being filled, but I have been most fortunate. From personal experience, the best advice I can give to writers or potential writers is to network with others in the field, to become an astute observer and listener, to read and read and read, and to have no fear, especially of rejection. Actually, I will pass along one of the best pieces of advice I was offered early in life: if one wishes to be a writer, she must have the sensitivity of a butterfly and the hide of a rhinoceros."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, July, 2002, review of Ahead of Their Time: A Biographical Dictionary of Risk-Taking Women, p. 1874; March 15, 2005, Jerry Carbone, review of Sport in American Culture: From Ali to X-Games, p. 1318.

Feminist Collections: A Quarterly of Women's Studies Resources, spring, 2002, Phyllis Holman Weisbard, review of Ahead of Their Time, p. 30.

Library Journal, March 1, 2005, Jim Burns, review of Sport in American Culture, p. 116.

Reference and User Services Quarterly, fall, 2002, Jennifer M. Boudreaux, review of Ahead of Their Time, p. 78.