Radish, Kris 1953-

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Radish, Kris 1953-

PERSONAL:

Born September 18, 1953, in Milwaukee, WI; daughter of Richard (a bricklayer) and Pat (a medical worker) Radish; partner of Madonna Metcalf; children: Andrew Carpenter, Rachel Carpenter. Education: University of Wisconsin—Milwaukee, B.A., 1975. Politics: "Very liberal." Religion: "Spiritual." Hobbies and other interests: Running, tennis, poetry, drinking wine, hiking, training for physically challenging events, motorcycling, raising two kids, biking, books, funky movies, golf, travel, sleeping once a year.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Oconomowoc, WI. Agent—Ellen Geiger, Francis Goldin Literary Agency, 57 E. 11th St., Ste. 5B, New York, NY 10003. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Writer, journalist, novelist, editor, columnist, and educator. Deseret News, Salt Lake City, UT, bureau chief, 1978-85; University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, reporter and journalism instructor, 1989-92; CNI Newspapers, New Berlin, WI, managing editor, 2001-03. Daily Universe, Brigham Young University, faculty advisor; University of Wisconsin—Milwaukee, member of board of directors, 1973-75; Intermountain Catholic Newspaper, member of board of advisors, 1985-87; writing volunteer, Oconomowoc school district. Worked variously as a waitress, bartender, columnist, window washer, professional Girl Scout, factory worker, bowling alley attendant, and worm harvester.

MEMBER:

National Organization for Women, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Cigar Babes.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Livingston Award finalist, for general excellence; nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for investigative journalism; Deseret News awards, for reporting; Society of Professional Journalists award, for reporting.

WRITINGS:

Run, Bambi, Run: The Beautiful Ex-Cop and Convicted Murderer Who Escaped to Freedom and Won America's Heart (true crime), Carol (New York, NY), 1992.

(With Cliff Isaacson) The Birth Order Effect: How to Better Understand Yourself and Others (psychology), Adams Media (Avon, MA), 2002.

Contributor to periodicals, including Better Homes and Gardens, Sierra, Skiing, Islands, and Midwest Living. Author of two syndicated columns for DBR Media, 2000—. Works have been translated into three foreign languages.

NOVELS

The Elegant Gathering of White Snows, Spinsters Ink (Denver, CO), 2002.

Dancing Naked at the Edge of Dawn, Random House (New York, NY), 2004.

Annie Freeman's Fabulous Traveling Funeral, Bantam Books (New York, NY), 2006.

The Sunday List of Dreams, Bantam Books (New York, NY), 2007.

ADAPTATIONS:

Run, Bambi, Run and Annie Freeman's Fabulous Traveling Funeral have both been optioned for film.

SIDELIGHTS:

Novelist, journalist, and educator Kris Radish is an author whose works seek to explore the many facets of female friendship and mother-daughter relationships. She is the author of nonfiction works, including a biography of ex-police officer Lawrencia "Bambi" Bambenek, who was accused of murder, and a treatise on the effects of birth order. However, Radish's fiction focuses on close connections and interactions between women, often couched within the structure of a small group of friends gathering together to seek the freedom of the open road and the fulfillment of their life's often-repressed goals. "I'm writing what real women are thinking. I like to think I've tapped into this wonderful female blood vein," she remarked to interviewer Claire Kirch in Publishers Weekly.

In her first novel, The Elegant Gathering of White Snows, Radish chronicles the transforming effects of a dedicated walk taken by eight women in a rural area of Wisconsin. The women are of differing backgrounds and age groups, but their friendship draws them close together in support of their mutual mission. Their walk, originally in honor of their friend Susan who faces an unwanted pregnancy, quickly turns into a personal event for each woman as she walks in honor of her own lost loves and displaced dreams. Soon, the walkers have attracted the attention of the media, and news reports of their moving meditation strikes a familiar chord with women around the country, leading to a positive influence in many lives. The book stands as a "rallying cry" for female empowerment, and a "celebration of the strong bond that exists between female friends," commented Booklist reviewer Patty Engelmann.

In Dancing Naked at the Edge of Dawn, protagonist Meg Fratano is shocked to discover her husband Bob having sex with another woman in their home in suburban Chicago. Nearly fifty years old and the veteran of a twenty-five year marriage with two children, Meg is dismayed to realize she had not noticed the signs of her eroding relationship. Devastated, Meg gathers her courage and sets out to seek a new, renovated life. Together with three close friends, she recreates a strengthening journey legendary within her family, when her Aunt Marcia headed to Mexico in years past. There, Aunt Marcia has left Meg a tidy parcel of land and an appreciable inheritance. She knows that her aunt's eventful trip served many purposes, and Marcia's influence and presence is still felt in a number of remote Mexican villages. As she and her friends travel south, Meg learns more about her stalwart aunt and wonders why she has only recently begun to embrace the life lessons imparted by her wise relative. Upon returning to Chicago, a group of kindred spirits gathers around here, considering their own experiences with loss and oppression, and seeking to shake the stifling effect of their backgrounds. Radish creates an "enticing world of women helping women to become the empowered individuals they were meant to be," observed Engelmann, writing in Booklist.

Annie Freeman's Fabulous Traveling Funeral brings together five female strangers for the funeral of a mutual friend, Annie Freeman. Dead of ovarian cancer at age fifty-six, Annie arranged her own funeral to ensure that her five friends attended and became acquainted with each other. The story begins when Katherine Givens receives a package from her dead friend. In it are a pair of Annie's favorite shoes, filled with her cremated ashes, and containing instructions to visit significant spots across the country where portions of Annie's ashes will be spread. Joining Katherine are Annie's university colleague Jill, her hospice nurse Marie, irascible neighbor Rebecca, and women's crisis worker Laura. As the quintet conduct their pilgrimage in honor of their deceased friend, they learn more about Annie and about themselves as well, forging a deep bond of newfound friendship from the tragedy that gathered them together. A Publishers Weekly reviewer observed that the novel focuses on "women forming bonds when their mettle is tested and finding power and self-actualization in grief, sharing, and love." In another Booklist review, Engelmann commented that Radish "celebrates women's inimitable friendships in an ode to sisterhood that will make her many fans rejoice."

The Sunday List of Dreams finds protagonist Connie Nixon retired after a three-decade career as a nurse. With her newfound freedom, Connie intends to tackle her list of dreams, things she has long wanted to do but was unable to because of family or professional commitments. Some, such as "stop setting the alarm clock," reflect her retired status, while others, such as "write more thank-you notes," expresses her desire to better appreciate those around her. As she prepares to sell her house, she happens upon some possessions of her daughter, Jessica, and realizes that Jessica had the courage to act on her dreams at an earlier age, becoming the owner of an influential women's sex-aid store in New York. Connie also realizes that reconnecting with her daughter is a major item on her dream list, as is, though she hesitates to admit it even to herself, the possibility of resuming an active sex life. Departing her small Indiana town for New York, Connie seeks to find and reconnect with her daughter. Later, with Jessica's help, Connie overcomes her own long-held inhibitions and experiences a sexual reawakening of her own. Radish's book offers a "paean extolling the virtues of sisterhood that encompasses mothers and daughters," Engelmann noted in Booklist.

Radish told CA: "I am a wild, daring, wonderful, bold woman who creates and crafts sentences that flow from my heart to my soul and out the tips of my fingers. My writing is done with great honesty and personal revelation and always with the charge that maybe I can do something for the women of the world. I am inspired by women's issues, by the causes of the female world that I have always held sacred, and I hope that I can portray the secrets and glories of a woman's life with great honesty and reverence. My stories and poetry come to me like fine gifts. I carry papers and pencils with me everywhere, and when I am naked I write on my hand. I write very quickly. I hate to edit—what is a comma?—and I adore good editors. If I can make someone feel and think—well—what a day, what a world, what a life. I say things out loud and with my words that most people only think. I charge through life and am always poised for a new adventure."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, June 1, 2003, Patty Engelmann, review of The Elegant Gathering of White Snows, p. 1744; November 15, 2004, Patty Engelmann, review of Dancing Naked at the Edge of Dawn, p. 563; January 1, 2006, Patty Engelmann, review of Annie Freeman's Fabulous Traveling Funeral, p. 58; December 15, 2006, Patty Engelmann, review of The Sunday List of Dreams, p. 23.

Entertainment Weekly, February 2, 2007, Lynette Rice, review of The Sunday List of Dreams, p. 127.

Kirkus Reviews, November 1, 2004, review of Dancing Naked at the Edge of Dawn, p. 1027; December 1, 2005, review of Annie Freeman's Fabulous Traveling Funeral, p. 1252.

Library Journal, March 1, 2002, Kay Brodie, review of The Birth Order Effect: How to Better Understand Yourself and Others, p. 124.

Publishers Weekly, January 20, 1992, review of Run, Bambi, Run: The Beautiful Ex-Cop and Convicted Murderer Who Escaped to Freedom and Won America's Heart, p. 51; November 14, 2005, review of Annie Freeman's Fabulous Traveling Funeral, p. 45; November 20, 2006, review of Sunday List of Dreams, p. 37; November 27, 2006, Claire Kirch, "Radish's List of Dreams Come True," profile of Kris Radish, p. 26.