LaDonna Harrison

LaDonna Harrison grew up in northern Minnesota in a three-room house without an

indoor bathroom. She and her younger sister slept in the living room while Mom and Dad

had the only bedroom. They lived off the land: her father hunted and caught fish; her

mother planted a garden and spent the hot humid month of August canning vegetables and

fruit for the winter. They were poor and uneducated, but LaDonna didn’t fully understand

until college, when she first heard the term, that she was from a “lower social economic

level.”

Our Divide: Two Sides of Locked-In Syndrome was written, not as a how to process of

conquering grief, but rather as an antidote to the deep loneliness of living with grief and shame.

If there is a moral high ground in Our Divide, it might be found deep in the heart of compassion.

Harrison took decades to write the book based on journal entries from her life. When asked why

she wrote Our Divide now, she says that it was a “Hound of Heaven” experience. Her reluctance

to relive her despair in writing did not make the story go away. It called to her from academic

hallways and classrooms. It pursued her through geographic escapes and excuses.

Harrison has over the years completed three master’s degrees, the course work for a PhD in Depth Psychology (MA English, MA Rhetoric, MA/ABD Depth Psychology) and 30 years of

experience teaching writing and workshops at U. of MN, U of CA at Santa Barbara, Lake

Superior College, MN, Carnegie Mellon U., PA and St. John’s Seminary, CA. She is a

member of the Palm Springs Writer’s Guild, has facilitated a weekly writer’s critique group

and has spoken about the grief process at spiritual retreats. Now retired from university

teaching, she lives in Palm Springs, CA with her husband Al Miller, the Great Dane Abby

and the Maine Coon cat Louie. LaDonna’s daughter Deanie and granddaughter Chloe live

near her.

Her essay entitled “Where’s the Juice” appears in The Magic of Memoir: Inspiration for the Writing Journey Edited by Linda Joy Myers and Brooke Warner of She Writes Press.