My Mother's Shoes
SHIRLEY RUSSAK WACHTEL was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York and has worked as a newspaper editor and reporter. A professor of literature, she holds a Doctor of Letters degree from Drew University.  She is the author of In The Mellow Light, a collection of poetry, and several interactive mystery books for children.  Wachtel is the mother of three grown sons and currently lives in New Jersey with her husband, Arthur.  This is her first novel. Shirley Russak Wachtel earned her Doctor of Letters degree from Drew University and her Master’s in English Literature from Long Island University. She has been published in the New Jersey Section of The New York Times and was a feature writer for the Staten Island Advance. She has spent the past 20 years as an English professor at Middlesex County College in Edison, New Jersey, where she teaches English composition, creative writing, and a special topics course called Writing About Survival. She won The Innovative Teaching Award from The League for Innovation in Community College in conjunction with The New York Times in 2006 for her work with the newspaper in the classroom.