Malone, Nancy M. 1931–

PERSONAL: Born September 3, 1931, in Bridgeport, CT; daughter of William A. (a real estate agent) and Mary (a musician; maiden name, Maraffi) Malone. Ethnicity: "Irish-Italian American." Education: College of New Rochelle, B.A. (with honors), 1953; Catholic University of America, M.A., 1958; Harvard University, M.T.S., 1970. Politics: Democrat. Religion: Roman Catholic.

ADDRESSES: Home and office—19 Winters St., City Island, NY 10464.

CAREER: Roman Catholic nun of the Order of St. Ursula (O.S.U.); teacher at Ursuline secondary schools in Bethesda, MD, and New Rochelle, NY, 1958–65; College of New Rochelle, teacher, 1966–67, 1970–73; Church Society for College Work, Cambridge, MA, case-studies project director, 1973–75; National Institute for Campus Ministries, Newton, MA, northeast regional director, 1975–78; Ursuline Retreat Center, director, 1978–80; Association for Religion and Intellectual Life, New Rochelle, editor, 1983–97; writer, 1997–. Seabury Press, assistant to the publisher, 1983–84. Interreligious Council of New Rochelle, member, 1994–96; reader, Fund for Theological Education, 1977–87, and Bernard Harris Scholarship Fund, 1993–99.

AWARDS, HONORS: Cited among Best Books of 2003, Publishers Weekly, for Walking a Literary Labyrinth: A Spirituality of Reading.

WRITINGS:

Walking a Literary Labyrinth: A Spirituality of Reading, Riverhead Books (New York, NY), 2003.

Contributor to books, including The Recovery of Spirit in Higher Education: Removing Anti-Judaism from the Pulpit. Contributor to periodicals, including America, Commonweal, Review for Religious, Sisters Today, Living Faith, and Classical Bulletin. Religion and Intellectual Life, book review editor, 1983–85, editor, 1985–90; editor, CSCW Report, 1974–75, NICM Northeast Regional Newsletter, 1975–78, Province Exchange, 1979–90, and Bylines, 1987–90, 2004–; coeditor, Cross Currents, 1990–97.

WORK IN PROGRESS: Research on prayer and the Holy Spirit.

SIDELIGHTS: Nancy M. Malone told CA: "Checkered though my 'career' may seem, the three organizations I worked with in ministry to higher education—the Church Society for College Work, the National Institute for Campus Ministries, and the Association for Religion and Intellectual Life—were in fact successive endeavors spearheaded by the same man, the Episcopal priest, Myron B. Bloy, Jr. When the money ran out for one outfit, he sought it in or founded another, all of them devoted to the integration of our religious and intellectual lives.

"My Catholic faith, the interreligious education I received, and the interreligious ministries that I have been engaged in have influenced all of my writing.

"I write, starting with a little seed of an idea or intuition, hoping to learn about and understand the matter at hand myself. Then, teacher that I am, I hope to pass what I have learned to others. Since I love to read and have been enormously influenced by what I have read, I believe that good reading is important to the life of the spirit, to being the persons we are meant to be. In like manner, I prize good writing—the careful and precise use of language—as a fine spiritual instrument, capable of expressing the complexity of what it means to be genuinely human. I try very hard to write well and clearly.

"I write first by hand, getting the ideas I'm trying to express down on paper, in however confused a manner. When I put what I have on the computer, inconsistencies, lack of clarity and order become apparent, and I correct them. I find it useful, then, to 'sleep on' what I have done, letting my subconscious do its work before I put the finishing touches on a piece. It is also—mysteriously—true that the process of writing itself brings me to insights that I did not have when I began the work.

"My own experience of life and faith—the life of the spirit—have awakened in me a desire to share my experiences with others."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

BOOKS

Malone, Nancy M., Walking a Literary Labyrinth: A Spirituality of Reading, Riverhead Books (New York, NY), 2003.

PERIODICALS

Christian Century, October 18, 2003, review of Walking a Literary Labyrinth, p. 6; March 9, 2004, Barbara Brown Taylor, review of Walking a Literary Labyrinth, p. 40.

Library Journal, July, 2003, Jaime Anderson, review of Walking a Literary Labyrinth, p. 81.