CLEGG, Eileen M. 1952–

PERSONAL: Born November 6, 1952, in Monterey, CA; daughter of Dave (a chemical technician) and Iris (a language teacher; maiden name, Ridgway) Conn; married George Klineman, February, 1979 (divorced, October, 1987); married James S. Clegg (a professor and scientist), May, 1994; children: (first marriage) Justin Thomas. Ethnicity: "Euro-American." Education: University of California, Berkeley, B.A. (philosophy), 1976. Religion: United Church of Christ.

ADDRESSES: Home—P.O. Box 762, Bodega Bay, CA 94923. Office—Santa Rosa Press Democrat, 427 Mendocino Ave., Santa Rosa, CA 95402. Agent—Meredith Bernstein, Meredith Bernstein Literary Agency, 2112 Broadway, Ste. 503A, New York, NY 10023. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Santa Rosa Press Democrat, Santa Rosa, CA, staff writer, 1979–. Writing consultant.

AWARDS, HONORS: Chairman's Award, New York Times Co., 1999, for story "One Brave Heart"; Scripps Howard National Journalism Award (with others), 1999, for series "Lessons of Alaska."

WRITINGS:

(With Susan Swartz) Goodbye Good Girl: Letting Go of the Rules and Taking Back Your Self-Esteem, New Harbinger Publications (Oakland, CA), 1997.

(With Betty Frain) Becoming a Wise Parent for Your Grown Child: How to Give Love and Support without Meddling, New Harbinger Publications (Oakland, CA), 1997.

(With Margaret McConahey, Susan Swartz, and Deborah L. S. Sweitzer) Claiming Your Creative Self: True Stories from the Everyday Lives of Women, New Harbinger Publications (Oakland, CA), 1998.

Contributor to periodicals.

WORK IN PROGRESS: Research on "enlightened aging" and trends toward community-building for elders.

SIDELIGHTS: Eileen M. Clegg told CA: "I write for the joy of exploring and sharing new perspectives, finding great stories, and putting them in the context of the latest research to inform and entertain others (and myself!). I love collaborating with others. Being 'co-creatives' is enlightening and an excellent way for extroverts to play with ideas before committing them to paper.

"Becoming a Wise Parent for Your Grown Child: How to Give Love and Support without Meddling was inspired by my mother's success and good humor as a 'mom of moms.' When talking about her approach with others, I began to recognize it's a rare gift for parents of adults to have the confidence and know-how to stay involved without meddling. At the same time, psychologist Betty Frain saw in her practice how vital parents are to children of any age in helping out with problems, and we wanted to explore a new model for strong multi-generational families.

"Both Goodbye Good Girl: Letting Go of the Rules and Taking Back Your Self-Esteem and Claiming Your Creative Self: True Stories from the Everyday Lives of Women were opportunities to go deep into other women's stories for nuggets of insight for making the most of today's fast-changing social context. With a little guidance, we can make up our own rules and follow the intuitive muse, instead of conforming to arcane ideas that we must conform to the expectations of the amorphous 'them'."