Kramer, Jacqueline 1951-

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Kramer, Jacqueline 1951-

PERSONAL: Born August 4, 1951, in Los Angeles, CA; daughter of Irving (a lawyer; in business) and Rose (a teacher and writer) Kramer; married Gerald Silver (divorced); children: Nicole Serena. Ethnicity: "Jewish." Education: Attended Bard College, 1970, and Berkeley College of Music, 1971; Bennington College, B.A., 1975. Politics: Democrat Religion: "Buddhist/Church of Religious Science." Hobbies and other interests: Swing guitar, gerontology, dancing, reading biographies, theater, dining.

ADDRESSES: Office—Aphrodite Productions, Sonoma, CA. Agent—Ashala Gabriel, Marlene Gabriel Agency, 333 W. 56th St., Suite 8A, New York, NY 10019. E-mail—jacquelinek@vom.com.

CAREER: Santa Rosa Junior College, Santa Rosa, CA, adult education instructor, 1986-. Moonlighters Swing Band, singer, 1988-. Also produced two albums with Aphrodite Productions; Santa Rosa Church of Religious Science, certified practitioner of religious science.

WRITINGS:

Buddha Mom: The Path of Mindful Mothering, Jeremy P. Tarcher (New York, NY), 2003.

Contributor to books, including Dharma Family Treasures, edited by Sandy Eastoak, North Atlantic Books, 1994. Contributor to periodicals, including Science of Mind.

WORK IN PROGRESS: Editing a book of interviews with women of different faiths about how their spiritual practice informs their mothering and vice versa.

SIDELIGHTS: Jacqueline Kramer told CA: "I studied music and art all my life, but have had very little training in writing. I write when what I need to communicate requires words, which is more and more often these days. Although I am not trained in writing, everything I learned while studying art and music—the importance of discipline, balance, commitment, authenticity, space, structure, and much more—has been applied to writing with a good result. I approach the writing and editing process guided by the commitment to create work that communicates clearly and flows with grace.

"I love editing. Each period, each comma, every word is important and beautiful. Like Giacometti, I carve away at a sentence until it is clear and simple. The crux of what I know about words was learned from singing lyrics to American standard songs written by Gershwin, Cole Porter, Hoagy Carmichael, and other great songsmiths. These finely crafted lyrics do not waste even one word. They need to flow, have humor or drama, paint a picture, build to a climax.

"Buddha Mom: The Path of Mindful Mothering was published twenty years after its inception. I was motivated to write it because of the lack of written material on feminine spirituality as it pertains to mothering. The entire book came to me within a period of six months. The rest of the years were spent finding my voice and making it through my own mothering journey. I originally had a contract with a publisher in 1991, but the book was turned down. It was picked up at Tarcher/Putnam in 2000. Both times a publishing contract came easily and without an agent. I think this is because the subject I write about has been sorely neglected. Buddha Mom has found the perfect publisher and can now be brought to a mainstream audience."