G. Elaine Acker

Words to live by: No Fear, No Regrets!

Heritage: 
Daughter of middle-class parents who actually taught her to believe she could do anything she wanted to do.

Home
: Native Texan, born "behind the pine curtain" in northeast Texas who slipped away to Austin, TX at the first possible moment.

Gigs: 
Newspaper proof runner (that's what they did in the dark ages before the Internet and email), typesetter, advertising salesperson, poet, magazine freelancer, SCUBA instructor, novelist, pet first aid instructor, nonprofit executive, development trainer, public information in crisis situations, marketing guru.

Formal education: 
University of Texas at Austin, BS; University of St. Thomas, MLA; graduate Leadership Austin.

Informal education: 
Riding the school bus, Sunday afternoon picnics with 30+ cousins, aunts and uncles, seven years in the band hall, divorce court, and disaster response (the last two are different, although they sound very similar).

"Fun" means: 
Hiking in Big Bend, camping in an Airstream, watching wildlife, writing about Texas, travel, & the outdoors, reading anything and everything, playing with Cricket and Max, the two wily rescues, and sipping wine on the front porch with the hubby, Bill. The back porch works well, too.