Murchie, Noël 1935-

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Murchie, Noël 1935-

PERSONAL:

Born December 25, 1935, in Boston, MA; daughter of Donald Murchie (a manager) and Margaret Redington Kimball (a writer); married Alan Kay, June 22, 1957 (divorced, 1971); companion of Paul Ryan (a physician); children: Peter Kay, Anna Kay Neal. Ethnicity: "Caucasian." Education: Tufts University, B.S. (education) and B.S. (occupational therapy), both 1958. Politics: Democrat. Religion: "Agnostic." Hobbies and other interests: Playing banjo, walking, cycling, cross-stitching, cats, folk dancing, reading, volunteer work.

ADDRESSES:

Home and office—Nine Toes Press, P.O. Box 444, Orcas, WA 98280. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Freelance writer, 1965—; Nine Toes Press, Orcas, WA, publisher. Hawaii School for Girls, Honolulu, high school writing teacher, 1974-77; Seabury Hall, Makawao, Maui, HI, English teacher and running coach, 1983-90. Volunteer for Special Olympics, Orcas, WA, 1991-95, and as a musician working with elderly people for Islands' Convalescent Center, Friday Harbor, WA, 1995-2001.

MEMBER:

Wilderness Society, National Wildlife Federation, Audubon Society, Punahon School Alumnae Association, Friday Harbor Scottish Dancing Club, Friends of the San Juan Islands.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Attended Bread Loaf Writers' Conference, 1975; First Prize Essay, San Juan County Fair, Written Word, 1998, and Grand Prize, 1999.

WRITINGS:

Hawaii: A Running Guide, Oriental Publishing (Honolulu, HI), 1981.

The Accidental Hermit (memoir), Nine Toes Press (Orcas, WA), 2001.

Contributor to the anthology To See Ourselves, Holt (New York, NY), 1976. Former columnist, Northwest Runner, Honolulu Advertiser, and Maui News. Contributor to journals, including Runner, Redbook, and Women's Sports & Fitness.

SIDELIGHTS:

Noël Murchie once told CA: "My primary reason for writing is to amuse, inspire, and rile up others; to purge myself of anxiety; and to record personal experiences and life around me. I've done this since childhood. It is impossible for me NOT to express myself in this mode.

"What primarily influences my work is personal experience, in particular the ridiculous stuff that happens all around me constantly. I'm particularly grateful to be from an unconventional, disheveled family. A writer I greatly admire is Betty MacDonald of The Egg and I fame.

"My writing process begins with keeping notes on scraps of recycled paper while I'm jogging, then jotting down the main points for the article or chapter in a loose outline. My work space looks like an office makeover that's gone amok, basically a demented person's desk with piles of papers, note scraps, books, pictures, clutter, cat hair balls, and so forth. I write at a computer on a daily basis, no formula or specific number of words/pages a day. I stay there until I'm finished. "What inspired me to write The Accidental Hermit was a year I spent living alone in the woods relishing a Spartan lifestyle."