ETTELSON, Trudy (G.) 1947-

PERSONAL:

Born September 23, 1947, in Cleveland, OH; daughter of Jack Gottlieb (a barrel reconditioning supervisor) and Rose Biales (a homemaker); married Richard Ettelson (a rabbi and psychologist), August 19, 1973. Ethnicity: "Jewish." Education: Case Western Reserve, B.A. (summa cum laude), 1969; Yale

Graduate School, Ph.D. (French), 1974; HUC-JIR, M.A. (Judaica), 1980. Politics: Independent. Religion: Jewish. Hobbies and other interests: Creative self-help, twelve steps, religion, and literature.

ADDRESSES:

Home—PMB #340, 4141 Ball Rd., Cypress, CA 90630. Office—DeVry University—Pomona, 901 Corporate Center Dr., Pomona, CA 91768-2642. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

DeVry University—Pomona, Pomona, CA, associate professor of communications, 1997—. Teacher at schools, including Chaminade University, University of Chicago, and Yale University. Writing and workshop consultant; affiliated with www.doctortrudy.com and the Outdoor Circle, Honolulu, HI.

MEMBER:

Modern Language Association, National Council of Teachers of English, National Writers Association.

AWARDS, HONORS:

America's Best awards, for teleplay, 1996, screenplay, 1998, and short story, 1999.

WRITINGS:

Soul Stories and Steps, Alef Design Group (Los Angeles, CA), 1994.

By Golly (children's play), produced by Lakewood Theater Guild, 1996.

Adventures in Writing: From Glitches to Glories, Coctrubooks (Cypress, CA), 2001.

Also author of screenplays Lovesick, 1992, Felicity (based on Gustav Flaubert's Un coeur simple), 1994, and J. J., 1995; author of novel Seven Nights from Death, 1995, and of children's book Golly and Me, 1996.

WORK IN PROGRESS:

Research on narrative self-therapy, writing as healing, and creativity and mental health.

SIDELIGHTS:

Trudy Ettelson told CA: "Writing is a healing, creative art that is capable of infusing all of our lives with pleasure and spirituality. Soul Stories and Steps explores the relationship between ancient Biblical stories and midrash, the retelling of those stories with a modern twist. Adventures in Writing explores the relationship between fiction and nonfiction in the writing process. It seeks to give a voice to the writer in all of us and to make the learning of grammar a spiritual process that is fun and entertaining.

"My students at DeVry have inspired me to give voice to the creative urges within us that long to be expressed and shared with others. A student appendix of writing glories illustrates the application of spiritual steps and stories that entertain as they teach how to write. As our Creator spins the stories of our lives, we become co-creators in the writing process. As we polish our craft, we grow through challenges that used to baffle us. Always, change within effects change without.

"The twelve Steps often provide a spiritual foundation for the writing process. Writing helps us understand the human condition and those parts of the human condition that are Divine. Whatever wounds we bear as human beings can be healed through writing, for writing is always a solution."