Biography of Barbara J. Hamby

Barbara began writing verses in grade school and continued her interest in creative writing through college. For many years, her attention was devoted to raising her family and a career as a secretary and legal assistant. In 1990, she began a ten-year transition into retirement from regular employment and resumed writing.

She has been published in newspapers, newsletters, anthologies, magazines (both print and online), and has self-published four poetry books. Barbara also edited an anthology of works by writers over 55, most of whom had never been published before. Elderberry Wine, Vintage 2001, was published in 2002 by iUniverse.com, through the Clark College Mature Learning Program in Vancouver, Washington. A similar volume, Elderberry Wine, Vintage 2000, published in 2000, contains a few of her writings, also.

In late 1998, Barbara traveled with a Women Authors’ Delegation to South Africa as part of the People to People Ambassador Programs initiated by former President Dwight Eisenhower. A dozen women from around the United States met in New York for a briefing, then flew to Johannesburg for a cultural exchange with South African writers, teachers, librarians, and a woman editor/publisher. She participated in meetings in Johannesburg, Cape Town, and Soweto, as well as several other locations. Visits to a prison, a winery, and Kruger Park were part of the group’s itinerary. A journal of the trip was compiled which includes writings from all the participants. Emotional experiences during that highly charged period of accelerated activity are reflected in some of Barbara’s poetry written during those days and later.

Barbara’s most recent work, Find Romance in Later Life, is a guidebook for singles in the second half of life, who are, or wish to be, bobbing around in the unfamiliar waters of the dating scene. To enlighten less experienced peers, she has collected anecdotes and advice from a large number of singles (and newly marrieds) of both sexes who have recently searched for companionship. She has added some of her own experiences over twenty-three years and her advice, as well. Find Romance in Later Life has been published and is available at Booklocker.com and Amazon.com.