“After graduation in 1968, I drove to San Francisco with a boyfriend. Worked in the bookstore at SF State (a few sightings of S.I. Hayakawa). Boyfriend decamped to ‘find himself’. Taught third grade in a parochial school. Returned east with my cat in 1970. Settled in the Back Bay. Taught adults in a GED program. Northeastern grad school briefly (Education). During the rest of my 20s, worked in a bindery, a restaurant, an advertising agency, even as a janitor. I loved my 20s! I was not serious about anything.
“One night, in a bar on Atlantic Avenue, I met a bucket salesman from Woburn (he told me he was a container specialist; I told him I was a socialite). Richard ‘Hoop’ Henshaw, a former high school basketball star and an NU grad (Business Administration) became the string to my balloon. We’ve been married for 46 years, live in Wakefield 10 miles north of Boston. Both of our children were born at home (we don’t like hospitals). We now have two granddaughters and three grand-dogs. All five are housebroken and haven’t bitten anyone recently.
“I’ve done some freelance writing (emphasis on ‘free’): press releases for various volunteer organizations, obituaries, eulogies, and commentary [hate mail came addressed to ‘Mrs. Jane Fonda Henshaw’]. In 2005, I self-published a book about my father, Craig Kingsbury Talkin’, available at Amazon.
“I’m proudest of our children, who are happy and kind; of caring for my parents; of saving the last remnant of our family farm; of my volunteer work; and of the enduring friendships I have made, especially that of my NU News editor, Peter Accardi.
“In future, I’ll be teaching anatomy in a Show & Tell program at Boston University’s Med School. Instead of eating dandelions by the roots after the grim reaper’s visit, I’ll be frightening young medical students, who will wonder, ‘If this is what the outside looks like, do we really want to see the inside?’”
(Kristen Kingsbury Henshaw graduated from Northeastern University in 1968 with a degree in Liberal Arts.)