Kimberly French
From Philosopedia
TENTATIVE - do not cite until approved
Kimberly French (28 July 1957 - )
French was born in La Porte, Indiana, the daughter of farm-machinery engineer and farmer Howard French; and musician, educator, and civic leader Helen French. She grew up in Independence, Missouri, and was educated at the Journalism School at University of Missouri in Columbia.
A contributing editor to UU World, she is an essayist and journalist whose work has appeared in Tikkun, Utne Reader, Salon, and other magazines. She is the author of Perkins School for the Blind (Arcadia Press, 2004), a history of the pioneering school founded in Boston in 1829.
A member of the First Unitarian Universalist Society in Middleborough, Massachusetts, she lives with her partner, Michael Rozyne, a cofounder of fair-trade company Equal Exchange and the founder of the nonprofit Red Tomato, and their two daughters.
In a Fall 2008 article in UU World, French details Ethical Culture's Humanist legacy, observing that "as liberal religious traditions, Unitarianism and Universalism have been cousins to the Ethical Culture movement since its founding by 24-year-old Felix Adler in New York City in 1876." She wrote,
- The cross-pollination continues today. Unitarian Universalist ministers often consult with or lead Ethical Societies. The Rev. Richard Nugent, a UU minister, has served the humanist Washington Ethical Society (WES) for two years, and this fall the Rev. Amanda Poppei will begin her first settled position there. But the Washington Ethical Society's affiliation with the UUA marks the first formal union of the two entities.
Selected Works
Books
- Perkins School for the Blind, Campus History Series, (Arcadia Press, 2004)
- Insider’s Guide to Freelance Writing in New England, (National Writers Union, 1989)
Essays:
- “Lost and Found,” UU World, Winter 2006
- “The Year of the Snake,” Natural New England, April 2002
- “Risky Business: Freedom’s Just Another Word for What?” Brain,Child, Fall 2001,
- nominated for the 2002 Pushcart Prize and named a Notable Essay in Best
- American Essays 2002
- “The Renaissance Cleaning Lady and Me,” Brain,Child, Spring 2001
- Tikkun: “Meat Eater” - essay was named a Notable Essay in Best American
- Essays 2000; was listed by Grist Magazine as one of its “Best of the Rest”
- in July 1999; and was reprinted in Growing Ideas: A Reader for Writers, 2001;
- and in Rhetorical Contexts: Readings for Writers, 2003.
- “Killing a Lamb Called Dinner,” Salon, November 24, 1999
- “Slaughterhouse Live,” Utne Reader, July/August 1999
Magazine journalism:
- Work in UUWorld magazine, where French is a contributing editor:
- “The Threshold of a New Era: General Assembly 2008,” Fall 2008
- “Ethical Culture’s Humanist Legacy,” Fall 2008
- “The Story of the ‘Sources’ Cantata,” Summer 2008
- “Adapting to Children’s Needs for 200 Years,” Spring 2008
- “ ‘Twilight Zone’ Writer Challenged Prejudice,” Winter 2008
- “Carolyn McDade’s Spirit of Life,” Fall 2007
- “Quillen Shinn: Universalist Circuit Rider,” Fall 2007
- “Thirty Years of Feminist Transformation,” Summer 2007
- “Help for Anxious Parents,” with “John S. Dacey: The Anxiety Pro” and
- “Parents’ Top ""Concerns and What You Can Do,” Spring 2007
- “America’s First Cemetery, Unitarian Style,” Spring 2007
- “UU Urban Ministry Mourns Six Deaths,” Winter 2007
- “Pilgrims’ 400-Year Legacy,” Winter 2006
- “William F. Schulz: Human Rights Champion,” Winter 2006
- “Lewis Latimer: Black Inventor,” Fall 2006
- “Clyde Tombaugh: He Found a Planet and Founded a Church,” Fall 2005
- “Samuel Gridley Howe: Champion of the Blind,” January/February 2005
- “Bitter Harvest: Slavery Isn’t History—and We’re Reaping Its Fruit,”
- November/December 2004; reprinted in textbook Flyover History:
- Remembering Our Ignored History, 2007
- “Tom Andrews: A Life Committed to Justice,” January/February 2004
- “Ward Morehouse: A Sentinel for Democracy,” May/June 2003
- “Chuck Collins: Defending the Estate Tax,“ March/April 2003
- “Ellery Schempp: A Victory for the Heretics,” January/February 2003
- “Taking Justice to the Community,” September/October 2002
- “Pilgrimage to Selma,” July/August 2002
- “Soul Mates,” January/February 2001
“The Man Who Would Change Everything,” Brown Alumni Monthly, October 2005
- “A Life on Film: Ross McElwee,” Brown Alumni Monthly, June/July 1993
“Making Our Money Matter: Investing in the Commonwealth,” Hope,
- January/February 2004“
“The Truth about Giftedness,” Boston College Magazine, Spring 1997
“Risky Business: How NASA Blew Up the Challenger,” Boston College
- Magazine, Spring 1996, cover story won a silver medal from the Council
- for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) in 1997
“Senior House,” Technology Review, February/March 1997
“The Genetic Effect: Family Roots,” The Walking Magazine, March/April 1992
“Dangerous Liaisons,” Omni, June 1990
“Who Succeeds in Brahmin Boston?” Bostonia, January/February 1989
“Truth’s Healthy Consequences,” New Age Journal, 1986
“Labor’s Uphill Struggle: Hospital Workers on the Critical List,”
- The Progressive, August 1983
