Ellen Tara James-Penney
Ellen Tara James-Penney was born in Redwood City, and raised on a sheep farm in the southern portion of what is now known as Silicon Valley. There, she helped her father tend their sheep, harvest walnuts, milk their cow Nellie, collect eggs, and play with their Australian Shepherds and Scottish-born Border Collies.
Ellen grew up loving personal stories shared by her father and mother, both of the Great Depression era. Her mother Gladys was an avid reader, and later wrote a weekly column for the Morgan Hill Times. Ellen was the official in-house listener/critic.
After her parents passing, and after working more than fifteen years in high tech, Ellen began her academic journey. In 2009 she received her Bachelor of Arts in English and Comparative Literature. In 2013, with her husband Jim and her brother Danny in attendance, Ellen received her Master’s of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from San Jose State University.
The following Fall she began substitute teaching at the university. The proceeding Spring Ellen was hired as an adjunct, and has been teaching English Composition and Critical Thinking since. She is best known as Professor E.
Her passions are spending time with her husband and their two dogs taking road trips or spending days at the ocean. In addition, she loves writing and documentary photography, meeting people and listening to them share their life stories.
Master's Thesis: Two Mothers
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