Today's Featured Biography

Debbie Gilbert

From: Gilbert, Debbie
Sent: Wednesday, December 24, 2008 4:48 PM
To: Gilbert, Debbie
Subject: Whitehaven bio



To begin at the beginning: I was born in Decatur , Alabama , on April 24, 1961. We were living there because my dad was working at the rocket base in Huntsville .



In 1963 we moved to Memphis , or more specifically, to Whitehaven, which at that time had not been annexed into the city. We attended Holy Cross Lutheran Church , just down the road from Graceland . I also went to school at Holy Cross for kindergarten through fifth grade.



For sixth grade, I was transferred to a public school, Oakshire Elementary, which was within walking distance of our house.



Then in 1973 the Supreme Court ordered schools to desegregate, and many kids were forced to ride buses to schools in other parts of town. I had no choice but to attend Geeter Junior High, a truly awful school, for three years. It was the worst time of my life.



Fortunately, I was allowed to attend Whitehaven High, and was once again able to walk to school. My favorite classes in high school were AP Biology and AP English. In later life, I ended up in a career that draws upon both those subjects.



Initially I didn't even consider college because my family didn't have the money. But being named a National Merit Scholar opened doors for me. I was accepted at Rhodes College (then called, for some inexplicable reason, Southwestern at Memphis ). I planned to do a double major in biology and psychology, with the hope of someday becoming a veterinarian. But after I flunked chemistry (despite making an A in the subject at Whitehaven), I decided to aim for being an animal behaviorist.



Rhodes has an excellent curriculum, but it's a private college where nearly all the students live on campus. As one of the only commuters, I felt like an outsider. After two years, Rhodes had raised its tuition so much that even with several sources of financial aid, I could no longer afford to go there. So I transferred to the University of Memphis (then called Memphis State University ). I finished my B.A. in psychology in 1983.



At the time, I was a dancer with the Tennessee Ballet, and I didn't immediately seek a job in the mental health field. In 1984, I began volunteering at the Memphis Zoo, and soon had a part-time, paid position in the zoo's education department. I did that for three years, and it was the most fun job I've ever had! I've kept up my membership to the Memphis Zoo for 25 years now, even though I've lived in Georgia since 1999 and only visit Memphis once a year. Every time I go to the zoo, it feels like coming home. And it's so exciting to watch the new exhibits take shape.



In January 1985, my mother died of multiple sclerosis at age 50. I was still living in my parents' home on Haleville, basically running the household so my dad could concentrate on taking care of my mother. Once she was gone, I was free to pursue a full-time career. I applied to a program at the U of M that allows you to earn a master's degree and a teaching certificate in just one year.



I didn't get into that program. But someone from the College of Education called and said they needed a graduate assistant to work at what is now called the Barbara K. Lipman Early Childhood School and Research Institute. I needed a job, so I said yes. The catch, of course, was that I would have to enroll as a student in the college of education. The major that seemed most interesting to me was counseling, so I chose that.



The first year at the Lipman school, I helped teach 2- and 3-year-olds. Some were the children of faculty members; some were special-needs kids. The next year they started a Montessori program and I worked in that, teaching ages 2 through 6. That was almost like working in a one-room schoolhouse, with children of different ages all being taught together.



While earning my masters degree in counseling, I worked for a year on a suicide hotline and also did an internship at a shelter for troubled adolescents. I also was facilitator of a women's support group for a number of years.



Through all these experiences, I came to realize that I did not enjoy working in the mental health field. I did not have the patience to sit and listen to people complain about their problems all day. So after completing my degree in 1987, I turned back to my first vocation: writing.



I had started free-lancing while still in high school, selling my first article to a magazine when I was 17. I continued free-lancing off and on all through college and graduate school. In 1988 I sent a couple of stories to Memphis magazine. The articles got rejected, but one of the editors called and said they were looking for a part-time assistant. Before long, I was working full-time as an assistant editor, then associate editor.



In November 1988, I moved to Midtown, and for the next 11 years I lived in a duplex on Forrest Avenue , one block from Overton Park . I loved being near the park and walking my dog on the woodland trails every day. But I didn't care for the fact that when I looked out my back window, I could see the Paris Adult Theater!



In 1989, the publisher of Memphis magazine started an alternative weekly called The Memphis Flyer, and I worked for both publications. My "beats" were the environment and health care, but I was free to write about anything I wanted. I reviewed books, movies, CDs, TV shows, whatever interested me. I got to interview some cool people, such as Jay Leno and Garrison Keillor. I even did a face-to-face interview with former President Jimmy Carter, which requires you to submit to a background check by the Secret Service.



In 1994 I joined the Society of Environmental Journalists, and that led to some memorable experiences such as meeting Robert Redford at Sundance and touring "Biosphere 2" in the Arizona desert. Through SEJ, I was able to sit down with top environmental officials such as the heads of the EPA, the National Park Service, and the U.S. Forest Service.



When I wasn't working, I was hiking. I had joined the Memphis chapter of the Tennessee Trails Association in 1984, and from about 1990 through 1999, I was the chapter chairman. I made many wonderful, longtime friends through this group. We did day hikes in west Tennessee , Arkansas , and Mississippi , plus overnight trips to the Smokies, Missouri , Alabama , and even southern Illinois .



On my own, I began taking an annual solo trip out West every summer, hiking in some of North America's most spectacular national parks: Glacier (Montana); Yellowstone and Grand Teton (Wyoming); Rocky Mountain (Colorado); Denali (Alaska); Olympic, Rainier, and North Cascades (Washington); as well as all five Canadian national parks in Alberta and British Columbia: Banff, Jasper, Waterton, Yoho, and Kootenay. These trips brought me some of the best days of my life, and a few of the scariest (including the close encounter with the grizzly in Glacier).



In addition to hiking, I also got involved in dog obedience training. My cocker spaniel Penny, who I had bought with my own money when I was 17, died in 1991 at age 12 and a half. As a child, I had always wanted a collie, but I didn't want a dog that big. The ideal solution was a Shetland sheepdog (what some people erroneously call a miniature collie).



One month after Penny died, I brought home a 10-week-old, sable-and-white ball of fluff I named Sunny. She proved to be the greatest thing that ever happened to me. Sunny was about as close as you can come to a perfect dog: smart, beautiful, affectionate. Like most Shelties, she took to obedience training like a duck to water. We joined a club and trained together for two years. Sunny easily won her AKC obedience title and was named the club's "Dog of the Year" in 1993.



Sunny was 8 years old when I moved to Georgia, and she lived with me there until May 27, 2005, when she died of cancer four days before her 14th birthday.



For every person there is an ideal dog breed, and for me it's the Sheltie. I knew I didn't want any other kind of dog. When it became clear that Sunny's condition was terminal, I began making calls and searching the Internet in search of a puppy. I found what I was looking for: a 5-month-old sable-and-white girl who I would name Daisy. I arranged to have the breeder keep her until after Sunny died, because it wouldn't be fair to the older dog to have an "intruder" in the house during her final days.



Two weeks after Sunny died, I drove up to North Carolina and picked up Daisy. Though she superficially resembles Sunny, Daisy's personality is completely different. Sunny was elegant and sweet-natured. She was friendly to everyone and loved to rest her head on people's laps to be petted. Daisy is more of a one-person dog and doesn't care about being petted. She's an athlete and a tomboy, and her idea of a good time is having you throw a toy so she can leap into the air and catch it. And she's even smarter than Sunny, so smart that I can't find puzzle toys tough enough to challenge her impressive problem-solving ability. Daisy turned 4 on Dec. 22, 2008, and I hope we'll have many more years together.



But I digress. Back to my career. After 11 years at the magazine and the Flyer, I had reached a dead end at my job and was being asked to do too many tasks that left me with little time to write stories. I did not want an editing position; all I wanted to do was write. Working for the Commercial Appeal was not an option, so I had to make a choice: stay in Memphis and work in a field other than journalism, or leave town for a writing job in another city.



I chose the latter. It would mean leaving behind everyone and everything I had ever known, but I was ready to start a new life. I hated the crime and pollution and traffic of living in a big city. I didn't want to have to drive for hours to hike in the mountains. Why not just move to where the mountains are?



So I looked at a map of the U.S. The Rockies , while a great place to visit in summer, are too rough in the winter, so I didn't consider anyplace in the middle of the country. The Northeast (such as the Adirondacks ) had the same weather issues. So I narrowed it down to two regions: the Pacific Northwest and the Southern Appalachians . I began sending out resumes to newspapers in those two areas.



The paper that offered me a job turned out to be The Times in Gainesville , Georgia . That's about 50 miles north of Atlanta . I was hired as an environmental reporter, but soon offered to be the health reporter as well, and built that second beat from scratch. It's a perfect job for me because I get to write a story every day (sometimes two or three, when we're really busy), and I get to write about science. I get to educate the public about medical and environmental issues, and I meet a lot of inspiring people who are battling or have overcome serious illnesses.



I live in Cleveland , Georgia (population about 2,500), in the Blue Ridge mountains about 25 miles north of Gainesville . Within an hour's drive of my house are several state parks, the Chattahoochee National Forest , and the starting point of the Appalachian Trail . Ironically, I rarely get the opportunity to hike anymore because I work such long hours. But I don't feel the need to hike as much because I can just look out the window and see mountains, and Daisy and I walk up and down steep hills every day.



I still go back to Memphis once a year to see family and friends, usually the week before Christmas. I dread the trip because it's a tedious (and sometimes treacherous) nine-hour drive. But I do enjoy revisiting my favorite places around Memphis , seeing what's new and what's changed.



My father died Oct. 1, 2008, at age 77. So I can no longer go back to that house in Whitehaven that we built in 1965. But I do still have relatives in the area. My sister Glorianne (Whitehaven class of 1978) lived in Southaven for about 30 years (and has been married to the same person, Eddie Winter, all this time). She recently moved to Walls, MS. She has three daughters and three sons, including a set of twins. Her kids range in age from 17 to 26. She also has a new grandson, who is my first "great-nephew."



My brother Ralph, who's a year younger than me but graduated from Whitehaven the same year I did, lives in Collierville with his second wife Luanne and a teenage stepson. He's an I.T. manager at Morgan Keegan.



I also have a younger sister, Bonnie, who moved to Colorado in 2000. She has two sons, ages 5 and 10, and a daughter, age 2. Now when I go out West every summer, I go to Colorado so I can both hike and visit with her.



And that's the story of my life so far. What the future will bring is anybody's guess. While things are far from perfect, I've been able to have some amazing experiences that aren't available to most people, and I realize how lucky I am.

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