I was born in the Finger Lakes Region of Upstate New York west of Syracuse, attended the University of Colorado in Boulder, and spent my junior year at the University of Vienna in Austria. Upon graduation from CU, I entered graduate school in Social Work at the University of Utah. There I worked with Nazi death camp survivors and Navajo Indians students.
With my MSW in hand I returned to Upstate NY and took a job in a new Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Clinic in what was then called the Upstate Medical Center, and is now known as the State University Hospital. I also had a private practice in psychotherapy.
In 1977, I moved west to New Mexico, first to Santa Fe and then to Las Cruces. In Santa Fe, after a summer as a tour guide, I worked for the State Mental Health Bureau. While there I became the first State Director of the newly created Sex Crimes Prosecution and Treatment program.
In 1979, I moved to southern NM, and taught Social Work at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, later running the Continuing Education program, and finished my 20 years there working in student services in the College of Health and Social Services (social work, nursing and public health).
In addition to my university work, I also wrote a weekly newspaper column which I eventually compiled into a book, Thinking Out Loud.
I also have a book entitled, Windows to My Soul, which is a collection of some of the lessons I have learned along the way.
In 2000, I took up folk painting in the style of Grandma Moses, a form of story telling on canvas which I have always loved. In 2006, I retired to Western North Carolina, where folk art is a tradition. When I am not writing or painting, I love to hike and garden.
I am a student of Quantum Physics research, which has been going on since the beginning of the 20th century and is now gaining a foothold in the scientific and public arenas. There are many authors, far more qualified than I, writing about QP for adults, but no one seems to be writing for children. I undertook that challenge in creating The Wisdom Tree and the Red Swing, to help children change their focus and perspective on their problems, turning negatives into positives.
Finding room in the day for my own thinking time is a challenge. When I do not, I get out of balance, out of sorts and make mistakes. For me, taking time to think is as important as breathing, eating and sleeping.
Carol L. MacAllister