Sharon Rhutasel-Jones

Watching the heads of dozens of giraffes pop up above trees as she and her husband drove along a road in Africa forms a part of one of Sharon Rhutasel-Jones' most memorable experiences. She writes about her time in Africa in her first book, "Living by Ear: Memoir of a Wayward Teacher." The book includes includes seven decades of listening to her heart. In it, classroom tales, stories of widowhood and remarriage, recipes, and poems appear in a jumble of passionate waywardness.

Rhutasel-Jones lives in the village of Los Ranchos, New Mexico with her husband Larry Jones and their two cats, Honda and Suki, whose pictures appear in various places on this page. She has taught over half a century. Her new career as a writer forces her to follow the advice she has given her students to: "Show; don't tell." "Be specific." "Include the senses." "Write about the things you know and care about."

"The Teacher Who Learned from Cats," the author's second book, begins with Taxi, who was hacked almost to death by the blades of a swamp cooler. Each of her cats is a "barometer, serving as a ruler by which to measure our own beings by offering, as only they can, a constancy and calm reflection in our lives." (quote from an Amazon review)

Rhutasel-Jones' poetry appears in various journals, anthologies, and magazines, and she is currently working on a book of haiku, tanka, haibun, and cherita--all forms of Japanese poetry.