avg_rating: 3.82
name: Leta Serafim
about: The daughter of an itinerant scientist, I was born in Wisconsin, spent the first years of my life in San Diego, before moving to Washington, D.C. when NASA was created and my father went to work for that agency. A genuine rocket scientist, he served there for twenty-five years in many capacities— Director of Unmanned Space, Director of Astronomy, Associate Administrator and Chief Scientist, and supervised the American missions to Venus, Mars, Saturn and Jupiter. Our house was always littered with models of space ships and missiles and our guests at Thanksgiving spoke about ‘thrust and payload’ in a multitude of tongues, it being my father’s firm belief that the language of American science was ‘broken English.’I attended Wells College in up The daughter of an itinerant scientist, I was born in Wisconsin, spent the first years of my life in San Diego, before moving to Washington, D.C. when NASA was created and my father went to work for that agency. A genuine rocket scientist, he served there for twenty-five years in many capacities— Director of Unmanned Space, Director of Astronomy, Associate Administrator and Chief Scientist, and supervised the American missions to Venus, Mars, Saturn and Jupiter. Our house was always littered with models of space ships and missiles and our guests at Thanksgiving spoke about ‘thrust and payload’ in a multitude of tongues, it being my father’s firm belief that the language of American science was ‘broken English.’I attended Wells College in upstate New York for two years before transferring to George Washington University in Washington, DC where I graduated with a degree in political science and Russian studies, my focus being on Dostoyevsky, Pasternak and Solzhenitsyn. I worked at the Washington Post while in college, writing obituaries and doing research for the national desk, before leaving to join the staff of the Los Angeles Times Washington Bureau.Following my marriage to a Greek national, Philip Serafim, I moved to Athens where I taught art while at home with small children, my daughters, Amalia and Annie. Upon return to the United States, I wrote for the local papers and sporadically for the Boston Globe. Philip, meanwhile, taught electrical engineering at Northeastern University for over 30 years and rivaled the best minds in NASA in his brilliance. He believed in me and was unwavering in his encouragement and support. Without him, I never would have finished a single page, let alone completed a book. Currently, I spend at least a month every year in Greece and have visited over 33 islands and know the country well. I paint in both oils and acrylics, etch, cook (I’ve mastered many native cuisines, but my main focus is Greek) make prints and etch, and spend many joyful hours with my grandchildren. ...more