I was a guest speaker at a Women’s Book Club in Berkeley recently, a group that has been meeting for thirty plus years. They honored me by reading my noir mystery novel, Death of a Clown and wanted to discuss the novel with me. I brought pictures of my mother (and a couple of me as a baby) during my parents’ stint in the circus. Also a costume Mom wore back in the early 40s! See photo right. If I could have gotten into it, I might have worn it to the event. Well, maybe. It was a lot of fun, sharing with this charming group of readers an insider’s view of circus life, although I was so young I don’t remember much. But I had Mom’s mountainous notes to guide me.  By the way, I’m the kid sitting on the elephant’s head.