PADDOCK, Lisa (Olson) 1951-

PERSONAL: Born April 13, 1951, in Fort Campbell, KY; daughter of John E. and Bette Z. Olson; married John R. Paddock, Jr., 1972 (divorced, 1980); married Carl Rollyson (a writer and college professor), 1981. Ethnicity: "Caucasian." Education: University of Colorado, Boulder, B.A. (magna cum laude), 1972; University of Toronto, M.A., 1974, Ph.D., 1980; University of Michigan, J.D., 1989. Politics: Democrat.

ADDRESSES: Home and office—52 Alexandra Way, Cape May Court House, NJ 08210. E-mail—lisa_paddock@yahoo.com.

CAREER: University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, lecturer, 1981-82; Merrill Lynch, Detroit, MI, financial adviser, 1982-86; Carter, Ledyard & Milburn, New York, NY, legal associate, 1989-92; Davis &Gilbert, New York, NY, legal associate, 1992.

WRITINGS:

Facts about the Supreme Court of the United States, H. W. Wilson (Bronx, NY), 1996.

(With husband, Carl Rollyson; as Lisa Olson Paddock) A Student's Guide to Scandinavian-American Genealogy, Oryx Press (Phoenix, AZ), 1996.

(With husband, Carl Rollyson; as Lisa Olson Paddock) A Student's Guide to Polish-American Genealogy, Oryx Press (Phoenix, AZ), 1996.

(Editor with others) Courtroom Drama: 120 of the World's Most Notable Trials, UXL (Detroit, MI), 1998.

Emily Dickinson: Self-Discipline in the Service of Art ("Lives Worth Living" series), SOFwest Press (Las Cruces, NM), 1998.

(With husband, Carl Rollyson) Susan Sontag: The Making of an Icon, W. W. Norton, 2000.

Contrapuntal in Integration: A Study of Three Faulkner Short Story Volumes, International Scholars Publications (Lanham, MD), 2000.

(With husband, Carl Rollyson) Herman Melville A to Z: The Essential Reference to His Life and Work, Facts on File (New York, NY), 2001.

Supreme Court for Dummies, Wiley (New York, NY), 2002.

(Editor) The Encyclopedia of American Literature, Volume 2: The Age of Romanticism and Realism, Facts on File (New York, NY), 2002.

(With husband, Carl Rollyson) The Brontës A to Z: The Essential Reference to Their Lives and Work, Facts on File (New York, NY), 2003.

Consulting legal editor to Edward W. Knappman; editor, Great American Trials, Gale (Detroit, MI), 1994, 2nd edition, 1001. Sometimes writes under name Lisa Olson Paddock.

SIDELIGHTS: Together with her husband, Carl Rollyson, Lisa Paddock has authored a number of books that focus on American and British literature, including Susan Sontag: The Making of an Icon, about the noted essayist, as well as several books that focus on less contemporary writers: The Brontës A to Z: The Essential Reference to Their Lives and Work, about the talented literary sisters, and a related volume on early nineteenth-century American author Herman Melville. In addition, Paddock has worked independently to edit the second of four volumes comprising the Encyclopedia of American Literature and titled The Age of Romanticism and Realism. In addition, she has used her training as a lawyer to produce several nonfiction works that introduce readers to legal history and concepts in works such as Facts about the Supreme Court of the United States and The Supreme Court for Dummies.

The Brontës A to Z serves as a valuable resource for students of famous sisters Charlotte, Anne, and Emily, whose novels—Jane Eyre, Agnes Grey, and Wuthering Heights—have remained classics of English literature. Praising the work as a "worthwhile resource for scholars and fans," a Booklist reviewer noted the book's encyclopedic format and its inclusion of plot summaries, photographs, and other useful resources. In similar fashion, Herman Melville A to Z: The Essential Reference to His Life and Work is part of the same reference series published by Facts on File. For their work on the author of Moby Dick, Paddock and Rollyson provide a wealth of "solid information," in the opinion of Herman Sutter in School Library Journal, while Library Journal contributor Peter Dollard called the work "comprehensive" and "more detailed" than similar reference works on Melville.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

periodicals

Booklist, September 1, 2003, review of review of The Brontës A to Z: The Essential Reference to Their Lives and Work, p. 166.

Library Journal, January 1, 2001, Peter Dollard, review of Herman Melville A to Z: The Essential Reference to His Life and Work, p. 92; August, 2002, Cynthia A. Johnson, review of Encyclopedia of American Literature, Volume 2: The Age of Romanticism and Realism, p. 76; Jun 1, 2003, Rebecca Bollen, review of The Brontës A to Z, p. 108.

Reference and User Services Quarterly, summer, 2003, Danny Kissane, review of Encyclopedia of American Literature, p. 363.

School Library Journal, May, 2001, Herman Sutter, Herman Melville A to Z, p. 90; November, 2002, J. B. MacDonald, review of Encyclopedia of American Literature, p. 96.