Deb grew up in Racine and has two brothers and a sister. Her mother is still alive. Nobody stayed in Wisconsin besides her and she is a Smith, but doesn't know what kind of Smith they were in the beginning. She came to Madison in 1977 to attend law school and developed many close friendships and was involved in the LGBT community. She doesn’t always love Madison, but couldn't possibly leave the friends she has had for over 40 years. Deb moved into Birchwood Point in 2017. She lived on the east side for many, many years and then moved to Middleton, owning a home there for over 20 years. She bought this place in Birchwood Point as her “age in place” house. Even though I haven't really become close with any of my neighbors, I like that I live where there is diversity. As diverse as places in Wisconsin get. I like that Madison is progressive and has lots of opportunities to explore one's interests and passions.
Deb has a small entourage in a Cat: Edward the three legged vampire, and two Dogs: Rosie the miniature dachshund and Lucy the wild child.
Title of her memoirs…Oops! Won't do that again. Deb has been a fiction writer for several years and taken workshops from some local authors but I will give her a moment to share this “autobiographical essay” I derived from responses to the questionnaire to give you a picture of the person behind the flags.
I am retired, so my whole life is a hobby. I try to do the basic things like greeting people with a smile and saying please and thank you. I volunteer at the food pantry.
Last year's mission during Covid was to learn to bake bread. I make a delicious pumpernickel and have now mastered focaccia
I hunt and fish and shoot trap. I have recently taken up pickleball. I like going to the dog park with friends. We like the Prairie Moraine Park outside of Verona.
I like to drive in the country a lot. I have an unnatural fascination and attachment to the Merrimac Ferry. I often drive up there when the ferry is open. There are a lot of small parks and natural areas to explore around there. I found one where, in July, there are millions of wild black raspberries. I also go morel hunting although I have never found any.
My extended and dispersed family gets together now and then as a whole group. I have very fond memories of family trips up north every summer. We are a fishing family and we would always work very hard to have enough fish for a big fish fry on Friday night before we had to go home. We are planning a get together this July to celebrate my mother's 90th birthday. We have rented a giant house near Lexington because it allows most of the family to drive there.
My best vacation was years ago when I went to Jamaica with two work friends. It was so completely relaxing and at the time with work being so intense, relaxing was the best thing it could be. We sat on the patio and drank rum punch and played euchre for a week. My playlist is a bit odd. I have a lot of old R&B/Motown, I grew up on James Taylor, but I also am a big fan of Pink.
I am very interested in voting rights. I volunteer as a poll worker and I worked some with Voter ID which is a program through the League of Women Voters
I have wishes for Deb after getting this small snippet of who she is that if we could make it happen we would find a way to get her to spend the day with Gertrude Stein in a cafe in Paris smoking Gauloises and drinking wine. And back here in the neighborhood she'd like to have a little breakfast/lunch place over on Silicon Valley Parkway where neighbors could come in for coffee and some pancakes and the older folks would sit at the back table and play cards on Wednesdays. Thanks Deb for being a wonderful member of Birchwood-Oaks neighborhood and a wonderful person to get to know.
