About Me

I was born into a theatrical family during World War II. I came to America in 1959 and have worked in the visual and performing arts for all my American life. After a career in the theatre as an actor and stage manager, I married actor Colgate Salsbury. We moved with our daughters to Housatonic, Massachusetts in the Berkshire Hills.

Once the children were in school, I worked briefly as a journalist and then began a career in public relations; first in 1978 with the newly formed Shakespeare & Company, until 1985, when with Steven Ziglar we formed a P.R. and Marketing Agency in Lenox. My marriage was now failing. My focus was the Arts: The Berkshire Museum, The Williamstown Art Conservation Center, Music Theatre Group, and The Berkshire Theatre Festival. In the late 1980s, I went to Boston as Cultural Tourism Director for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (way too much bureaucracy for me). Returning to the Berkshires, I continued in Arts promotion. I am a founding member of The Berkshire Arts Alliance through which I met John Staber, then a Board member of the Berkshire Scenic Railway.

We were married in 1991 and I moved with him to Columbia County. In 1990 and 1992, I co-wrote and co-produced, with musicians David Grover and Terry a la Berry, “Grover’s Corner” and “Chanukah at Grover’s Corner” two Public-TV shows for children. We won several television awards.

From 1996 through 2004, I served as executive director for the Spencertown Academy, a Center for the Arts. During that time, with a group of actors, we formed The PantoLoons and, for fifteen years, we put on a British American Pantomime every Thanksgiving, moving in 2005, to The Ghent Playhouse. I directed “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown” in 2011 at Ghent, and “An Evening of British Music Hall” in 2015 at Spencertown Academy and at Old Songs in Voorheesville, NY.

In 2010, I published my memoir “Silverlands Growing Up at the Actors Orphanage.” I have served on several not-for-profit Boards, curated an art gallery in Old Chatham and had my poetry published.

This new book “Rise Above It, Darling,” is a biographical memoir about my mother, Joan White, who worked for sixty-five years in the theatre both in England and North America. (Joan White was artistic director of the former Berkshire Playhouse in Stockbridge from 1960 to 1964. I also acted in several productions there).

With my children and grandchildren grown, I now live in beautiful Columbia County with my second husband John, a retired pilot and flight instructor, where I write, volunteer, garden and walk our dog. Until 2020, we flew our restored Lake Amphibian around New England and, for the past 30 years, have attended Lake Fly-Ins around the US.

Other pertinent information

Education:

  • Sir William Perkins School, Chertsey, Surrey. UK – graduated with 5 O-Levels
  • H.B. Studio, NYC (2 years) Herbert Berghof’s key student (scholarship).

Past Boards:

  • Berkshire Arts Alliance Co-founder, past chair, member 1980-1995
  • WGBY-TV Public Television Board member 1990-1992
  • Columbia County Council on the Arts
  • Board member 1994-97, chair – marketing committee
  • 96, Inc. A literary magazine published in Boston MA 1990-2001
  • Chatham Education Foundation 2009 – 2020 (president 7 years)
  • North Chatham Free Library – Arts and Culture Committee 2019 – present

Awards:

  • Congressional Certificate of Merit – 1987
  • Emmy nomination for “Chanukah at Grover’s Corner” 1993
  • Leadership Award – Berkshire Visitors’ Bureau 1993
  • Wilbur Award – “Chanukah at Grover’s Corner” 1993
  • Corporation for Public Broadcasting Gold Award “Grover’s Corner” 1991
  • Gabriel Award – “Grover’s Corner” 1991
  • Editor’s Choice Award – National Library of Poetry 1994

Personal:

  • Born in London, England during World War II.
  • Mother – Joan White: actor/director/teacher;
  • Father – A. P. Moore: manager Duke of York’s Theatre, London
  • Childhood – 12 years at The Actors Orphanage, Chertsey, Surrey UK
  • Daughter is ceramic artist Abby Salsbury http://butterpieproductions.com
  • Son-in-law is sculptor Dean Pulver http://deanpulver.com

In The Works

Any replacement parts?

It’s five in the morning. Our flight leaves in an hour. Check Bag Get Boarding Passes Continue on to TSA. “Identification and boarding pass, please. Any photo IDs.” License out.  “Thank you ma’am. Are you with him?”  “Yes, I am.” “Over seventy-five”  We nod. “Then you may keep your shoes on!” Thank you God. “Stand…

Sonnets

Bowker’s Wood The evening light of spring in Bowker’s Wood Is soft and dapples on the greening ground. The earth once more reveals her maidenhood, While the river curves an oxbow all around. The path beneath my feet feels cushioned, soft From seasons of pine needles fallen there. The straight-limbed trees wear all their green…