Parker, Pauline E. 1916-

PERSONAL: Born March 12, 1916, in Flora Vista, NM; daughter of Orlo Burr (an electrical engineer) and Lillian Deadman (a homemaker; maiden name, Hickman) Putnam; married Wilbur Lee Parker (an administrator), October 12, 1940; children: Ann Parker Littlewood, Pamela Lee, Nancy Lou. Ethnicity: "Anglo." Education: Attended Fort Lewis Junior College, 1934-36; Oregon State College (now University), B.A., 1945; Sacramento State University, teacher's credential, 1956, M.A., 1963. Politics: Democrat. Hobbies and other interests: Travel, genealogy, contract bridge.

ADDRESSES: Agent—c/o Author Mail, McFarland and Co., Inc., Box 611, Jefferson, NC 28640. E-mail—peparker@mindspring.com.

CAREER: High school teacher in Sacramento, CA, 1958-60; California Department of Mental Hygiene, Sacramento, social research analyst, 1963-70; National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD, conference manager, 1971-72. Sacramento Garden Club, founder of River Park, 1952.

WRITINGS:

(With Barry D. Terranova) Indirect Services: The Bridge between Mental Illness and Mental Health, Including Programming and Reporting Models, California Department of Mental Hygiene (Sacramento, CA), 1969.

(Editor and contributor) Women of the Homefront: World War II Recollections of Fifty-five Americans, McFarland and Co. (Jefferson, NC), 2002.

WORK IN PROGRESS: Lily, the Genteel Pioneer, a novel based on the life of the author's grandmother, Elizabeth Graham Hickman, who moved with her family from Kentucky to what was then the New Mexico Territory in 1884.

SIDELIGHTS: Pauline E. Parker told CA: "For years I have believed that the experiences of women who lived through World War II have been neglected. Men congregate to share their wartime experiences. Women seldom mention theirs. Much is written about the men's activities, and justly so. Few books reveal the everyday lives of women at home. Little interest has been devoted to the happenings of the women who, by themselves, raised their children, kept war industry going, supplied labor to keep government functioning, served in the military, and kept alive the faith and hope of those serving abroad. I wanted to capture some of those stories before time takes its toll.

"In a creative writing class composed of women in their seventies, eighties, and early nineties, I discovered that they could write, probably better than in their youth. Thus began the project that consumed my time for seven years. I provided the impetus, the editing, and the publishing preparations, as well as the introduction and my own story. Fifty-four other women provided the remarkable variety of life experiences which make up Women of the Homefront: World War II Recollections of Fifty-five Americans."