Barb Baltrinic, author

I grew up in Cleveland, Ohio, in Slavic Village. I was the oldest of five daughters in the Gregorowicz household. I graduated from Cleveland South High in 1969, the first class to graduate from the "new building." Sadly, my elementary school has been torn down (Mound School,) my junior high is already torn down (Myron T. Herrick,) and now my high school is closed and has been repurposed as an archive building for Cleveland schools. What surprised me was that on a visit to the old neighborhood, my childhood home was torn down! I lived in four homes as a child: on Egbert in Bedford; Archer in Bedford; E. 44th in Cleveland, and E. 59th in Cleveland. Every house I lived in as a child is gone...now only a memory!  I guess you really cannot go home again!  Of course, this is why writing is so wonderful...I can "go home again" by researching ancestors to learn more about their "home."  There is some strange level of satisfaction in doing this!



I started college at Cuyahoga Community College, however, after two years of taking classes at night, I was encouraged to make the leap and leave Cleveland to go to Kent State. I was the first in my family to go to college.  I graduated from Kent State with a BA in English, with minors in Education and Public Speaking. Shortly after graduation, I began my career as a teacher in the Akron Public Schools. I taught public speaking and English at Roswell Kent Junior High for ten years; then moved to Ellet High School for the next 25 years. I served as an adviser for the National Honor Society, Senior Class, Enrichment Travel, and a wide variety of other activities during my tenure there.



During those years I also returned to Kent for my M.Ed. in Curriculum and Instruction. I earned my National Board Certification, which I was very proud of achieving. I taught several classes for both Kent State and The University of Akron.   After 35 years of teaching, in 2009 I retired from the Akron Public Schools, then I took on a full-time job as a contract professional for the College of Education at The University of Akron. I placed student teachers, field students, did some professional development work, and a variety of other "duties"  That chapter of my life ended on October 31st, 2016, and I began my new adventure as an "occasional part-time" coach and professional development presenter for High Schools That Work.  I will also have time to continue my writing.



My third novel, Why My Mother Couldn't Love Me, which is presently in the editing stage, is a memoir about my mother's and my relationship and my trying to understand why she was never able to bond with me.  It was not until I was in my thirties when I discovered my mother had two sons prior to my birth, and she had given these boys up for adoption.  After her death, I began the process of searching for my brothers.  Nearly fifteen years later we met and my life has become very much enriched with having them and their family in my life.  The book covers how my mother became who she was, our relationship, and my path to finding my brothers.  Although I thought the book would be ready for print early 2018, it turned out more research uncovered more secrets and I had to keep rewriting, rewriting, rewriting.

 

 

On a personal note, I married my college sweetheart, Michael Baltrinic, who was a science teacher in Field Local Schools. We have two adult sons, Mike and Mark. Creativity runs in our family as my husband and oldest son, Mike,  are both into music and have written a variety of songs for their own amusement, and my youngest son, Mark, shares my passion for writing as he has completed several screenplays and many comedic scripts. My hobbies obviously are in writing, as well as genealogy. 



When writing my first two books I counted on the research my cousin, Dennis Clark, and I did over the years based on family stories that we were direct descendants of Abraham Clark, signer of the Declaration of Independence.  Once the novel was drafted, I had a colleague and historian, John Gurnish, review it for accuracy.  Once it was ready for a final edit, I turned to Sarah Hamlin, both friend and avid reader who pays close attention to detail.  She did my final edit.  The cover art and layout were handled by a former student, now a fellow writer, Dale Pease and his company, www.walkingstickbooks.com. When my second novel, A PATRIOT'S PRICE, was completed, I again turned to my "helpers" and added the assistance of Dani Reedy, a former student, who created the artwork used in my new book cover.  My newest book, MATERNAL FAILURE was designed by Dale Pease, using a photograph of my mother which had always intrigued me.  She had torn it, then roughly taped it together.  I felt that photo spoke volumes of her self loathing.



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