About Me

Born in El Paso, I grew up in Fort Worth, graduated from Rice University (English) and earned my Ph.D. (Theatre) from the University of Minnesota. After Minneapolis (marriage, a son, acting, dramaturgy, teaching), I moved to Chicago with my family and joined the Theatre faculty at Northwestern University. Tenure, divorce, working with professional theatres, and scholarly publishing followed until I left academe for Los Angeles. There I worked as a Story Analyst for television and film producers.

Following my father’s death I returned to Texas to live with my mother. My son and his family live in the Chicago area. In Fort Worth I'm active with the Westside Unitarian Universalist Church, Coffee Party Forth Worth, local Democrats, the Gateway Park Advisory Committee, Haltom-Richland alumni from my era, and the White Lake Hills Citizens Patrol (COPS, Code Blue). In 2009 I tutored autistic children 3-8 in the Autism Services clinic of Fort Worth's Child Study Center.

Most of all, I write. Besides a novel in progress, I’ve created my own town – Preston Bluff, Texas – a tiny hamlet in the state’s smallest (fictional) county (Preston) in the center of Texas, along the Navasota River. I write mysteries and “stand-alones” set in Preston Bluff and environs. Some of my characters write for the Preston Bluff Dispatch; their tales from the Bluff appear as blog entries and in the Archives. Others write for the Bluebonnet Bell, the student news-zine of Preston County's Bluebonnet Country Day Academy.

I blogged for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram's DonkeyTales08 as an Obama delegate to my county convention. If you found this page through DonkeyTales08, Google "Linda Jenkins and Preston Bluff" or see http://lindawalshjenkins.typepad.com to see my Preston Bluff and publications entries.

Publications: The Fort Worth Star-Telegram published four editorials of mine in 2007; see Editorials in my Archives. In the spring of 2006 Theatre Communications Group published the third edition of Women in American Theatre, which I co-authored and co-edited with Helen Krich Chinoy. See Publications in my Archives for books currently available through Amazon.