Sheila Ryan

Blogs I follow

Occupation	Half-Woman, Half-Archivist
Location	Galena Territory, Driftless Region, United States
Introduction	I live to embellish. What do I like to think about? Oh, the poetics of historical narrative and the records that inspire the narratives. What do I do? Oh, you might say I chronicle (though my business card says I'm an archival consultant and historian). My Three Graces: Fancy, Biography, and Mendacity. Before I took up the glamorous and profitable racket of archival consultancy and chronicling, I worked (sometimes for pay, sometimes not) as radio host/programmer, narrator of recorded books (for the Library of Congress), Curator of Manuscripts (Brit: Keeper of Manuscripts), industrial spy, lawn-mower, huckster of donations to PBS, production editor for a social science research institute, and amanuensis to an elderly authoress. There was more. My first job? No lie: child model for Dallas department stores. And no, I didn't do 'junior' beauty pageants.

If mud is dirt plus water, what is clay?

Well, "A Hundred Pounds of Clay" is a song recorded by Gene McDaniels.