Mimi Schwartz is a pro­fes­sor emeri­ta at Stock­ton Uni­ver­si­ty. Her books include the award-win­ning Good Neigh­bors, Bad Times: Echoes of My Father’s Ger­man Vil­lage); Thoughts from a Queen Sized Bed (JCC book club pick) and Writ­ing True: The Art and Craft of Cre­ative Non­fic­tion. Ten of her essays have been Nota­bles in the Best Amer­i­can Series, includ­ing four from this book.