MELANIE SIMS, Marilyn's daughter, is a Santa Monica native and now resides on the central coast. A former teacher, she has an associate's degree in liberal arts and behavioral sciences. She has also taken Children's Book Writing at Cal Poly. MARILYN SIMS (Heintz) grew up on a farm outside Glen Flora, Wisconsin. She attended the Walrath School--where her mother, Grace Heintz, was a teacher--and then attended Glen Flora High School. She still spends her summers in Wisconsin at her cabin on the Flambeau River, where she enjoys visiting with her family. Marilyn is a member of the International Society of Poets and has published newspaper columns while living in Reseda, California. She now resides on the central coast. MICHAEL HEINTZ, Marilyn's brother and a longtime poet, lives with his wife, Sugie, on their farm near Ingram, Wisconsin, raising cattle and growing fields of vegetables.