Betsy Lynch holds a BA in literature (Binghamton University) and M.S. (SUNY Albany) with extensive additional graduate work in literature and linguistics from SUNY Plattsburgh, McGill University, Indiana University, and St. Michael's College. She was a participant in many workshops and institutes, including Bread Loaf, Palm Beach Poetry, Iowa Writers, San Miguel de Allende Writers Festival, Association of Writing Professionals, Florida Writing Association, Poets and Writers Group, "Moving Mountains Poets" led by Rachel Baum, and recently, the "Kick Ass ADK Writers Festival", sponsored by the Adirondack Writing Center in Saranac Lake, NY, and Prartho Sereno's "Poetry as Spiritual Practice" workshops.After retiring from teaching English and ESL in New York State, she continued to teach English and ESL in overseas assignments and in Florida, retiring from the College of Central Florida in 2021. She has taught in Shanghai, China, Cusco, Peru, Quetzaltenango, Guatemala, and dual enrollment at several high schools.While living on Anna Maria Island, Florida, her partner encouraged her to get her pilot's license, and she has been flying several small planes since 2012. She has found great joy in discovering the abundance of space, a new dimension, along with the challenges, steep uphill learning curves, and fear. Moving inland to an airpark community in central Florida was a choice that brought further challenge and great opportunity.Born and raised in New Jersey, Long Island, and upstate New York, she considers the Adirondacks home, where she raised her children and taught. She has always enjoyed singing, playing piano and flute. She divides her time between the Lake Champlain Region and Ocala/and Tampa Bay, Florida, where she and her best friend of 20 years, Ed , fly a Piper Tomahawk named "Shadowfax" after Gandolph's horse in Lord of the Rings.Her children and grandchildren live about an hour away.She has published a longer collection, "Turning Base: Wind Perceptions" (Mill City Press, 2018) and in numerous journals including the English Journal (National Council Teachers English), Midwest Press, The Aerial Perspective of QuillKeepers Press, Eclectica, others.She may be reached @BetsyTurnsBase (Betsy Lynch Writespirit) on X or at Writespiritbetsylynch@gmail.com
