Marie Rickmyer is from St. Paul, MN, though she was born in Northern California and lived there until she was nine. When her mother divorced her father, they left the sea and golden hills that framed her life and came to Minnesota to be closer to her mother’s siblings. Marie works in health care as a Clinical Consultant for Oncology. Her work is an intersection between her passion of helping others and finding creative solutions to solve problems.
She completed her M.F.A. in Creative Writing in 1999 from Hamline University and moved up to St. Joseph, MN to teach English and direct the Writing Lab at the College of St. Benedict. While the position lasted only a year, she realized that one of her talents was teaching. She moved back to St. Paul to teach at a private school called, Trinity School at River Ridge. Here she taught English, Theology, Art History, and Spanish. When the opportunity arose to work in the professional world, she took advantage of the ability to travel, and launch her own business as a chef and caterer to help heal and teach others how to cook life-sustaining food. Her creativity expands from the kitchen, to writing, and helping others live healthier lives with her work at a major healthcare company. She recently published a small accessible cookbook titled Mexican Cooking on a Budget.
Marie understands that life challenges and busyness can hinder her focus on writing. But she writes when she can and shows up at her writing group religiously almost always carrying a new or revised poem (often written that day) to have something to workshop. Her writing group has consistently met monthly for over 20 years. Her other hobbies include walking her huge dog Zeus, cross country skiing, competing in triathlons, and golfing. She especially enjoys playing cribbage and Scrabble with whomever will play.
Paperback: 80 pages
Publisher: Kelsay Books (August 25, 2024)
Also available on Kindle