After college she lived in Rome and spent time traveling in Italy before moving to Madison, Wisconsin.
[1] She is mother to New York City-based experimental musician Dominick Fernow, also known as Prurient.
She started her career with National Public Radio affiliate WGUC-FM, then worked as a freelance reporter for NPR's Morning Edition and All Things Considered.
She received a grant from the Wisconsin Arts Board for her second book, Crossing the Great Divide (1992).
Her 2007 memoir, I Hear Voices: A Memoir of Love, Death, and the Radio, was named an "Outstanding Book" by the American Association of School Librarians and one of the year's "Best Books for General Audiences" by the Public Library Association.