WRITING THE LIFE OF MINA P. SHAUGHNESSY

<p>In a day filled with thought-provoking and insightful sessions, Jane Maker's stands out because in her talk on her new biography, Mina P. Shaughnessy: Her Life and Work, she introduced us not simply to the elegant, successful Mina P. Shaughnessy, but more movingly to the struggling, determined, and yet frequently thwarted Shaughnessy. Foregrounding her own working class background, Maher told us about how she had attended college as an adult and just missed being one of Shaughnessy's students. Shaughnessy herself was from a working class family who, as many of our students and their families do, believed in the power of education to change lives. Jane Maher is an associate professor in the Basic Education Program at Nassau Community College where she teaches basic writing. She has written several biographies; still the story of Mina P. Shaughnessy's life was spedal to her because it revealed the early days of our field and of open admissions, and the story of motivated and courageous students and teachers, and of one woman who believed in them.</p>