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Dale Shillito
At the age of ten, my parents moved to a house on a wooded lake with a dark night sky. I was able to see the Milky Way and thousands of stars. I became fascinated by astronomy. I was also intereste...view moreAt the age of ten, my parents moved to a house on a wooded lake with a dark night sky. I was able to see the Milky Way and thousands of stars. I became fascinated by astronomy. I was also interested in art, writing, and geography.
In college, I was intrigued to learn from a women’s study professor that there is no true matriarchy on Earth. While there are matrilineal societies, women do not rule directly but select male leaders. I reasoned women are as intelligent as men, why shouldn’t there be an advanced matriarchal society somewhere, and what would such a society be like? I wrote a short story on the topic, introducing the planet Valpartha, which won first prize in a national Phi Theta Kappa writing contest.
This achievement was laid aside as I began a new midlife career after obtaining a master’s degree in geography at Temple University. I worked as a geographic specialist/cartographer for the US Bureau of the Census, participating in three decennial census operations.
After early retirement, I began writing again in earnest, publishing Where Cross the Crowded Ways of Life—a 120-page nonfiction church history for Arch Street UMC in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for its 150th anniversary in 2012. The title is taken from an old Methodist hymn, which once was the urban church’s pet theme. Valpartha: One Woman’s Quest has been written since that time, in addition to writing Volume 2 of Where Cross the Crowded Ways of Life, 1923–Today, which is also now ready for publication.view less