Eileen Valentino Flaxman quit half-way through college to go on the road with a band (and why did no one try to talk her out of it . . .). What followed were the ups and downs of being a singer and actress.
Twenty-five years, marriage, and a new baby later, she went back to school. Her transcripts may have been yellow, but she felt fresh and ready: a reborn English major, ready to conquer academic writing and falling back in love with the written word. Receiving her UCLA degree was one of the happiest days of her life.
Three books followed: Pieces of Glass: Growing Up Catholic in the Fifties (a memoir), What’s Been On My Mind (poetry), and What Lies Beneath: A Poetic Journey Through Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick (poetry, with a poem for each of Moby-Dick’s 136 chapters).
As a writer, the last thing Eileen wants to do is amuse. “I want to grab you where you live and make you laugh and cry, think and feel. Otherwise, why bother??” Even as a performer, Eileen craved connection. She’ll never forget a night after one of her performances, when an aged gentleman made his way haltingly backstage, grabbed her hand tightly and quietly said, “You made me feel things I haven’t felt in years.” This remains her benchmark.
Paperback: 106 pages
Publisher: Kelsay Books (September 17, 2026)