Five months after graduating from Vassar College in 1982 with a BA in English, Phi Beta Kappa with both General and Departmental Honors, Louisa suffered a drug-induced cardiac arrest in a Manhattan...lihat lebih banyakFive months after graduating from Vassar College in 1982 with a BA in English, Phi Beta Kappa with both General and Departmental Honors, Louisa suffered a drug-induced cardiac arrest in a Manhattan nightclub, her body unresponsive to CPR efforts for over three minutes. An atheist and budding alcoholic with no knowledge of Near Death Experiences, she dismissed hers as a vivid drug trip and went on to earn a Masters in English at the University of Washington, publishing several prize-winning works of short fiction even as her emotional and spiritual health declined in the wake of increasing addiction. As told in her autobiography, A Spiritual Evolution: Coming to Recognize god in All That Lives, a deep commitment to atheism and the sciences caused her to reject spiritual programs for alcoholism, until a series of paranormal experiences – termed the Fourteen Weird Things – broke down her resistance and freed her to pursue a life of spiritual vitality. Having directed a writing center as well as teaching Literature at the University of Washington, she has also taught writing at The Evergreen State College and numerous Puget Sound area community colleges. An advanced ballet dancer in her fifties, she also pursues adventures as an avid mountain climber and instructor of mountaineering.lihat lebih sedikit