barbara parker

Barbara was in the first class I ever taught at FIU, an Intro to Creative Writing course at our University Park campus. She sat in the thrid seat in the left row and was so smart, I asked her to teach one of the classes--I can't remember what the subject was that morning. Well, she showed up with handouts and a lecture and exercises.  Later she got into our MFA program, and I found out she already had a book published and she was an officer in the South Florida Romance Writers Association. She invited me to their annual conference in Hialeah and I went.  Barbara was in a memorable fiction workshop with Dennis Lehane one semester. It was thrilling to be in that room with so much talent--an not just those two eventual stars. Barbara left romance for leagl thrillers. Wrote twelve of them, all very successful. After she got her MFA, she called me to have coffee. We met on Hollywood Beach and she said she found out that morning her first novel would be coming out in in paperback. First printing--a million copies. Barbara bought the coffees.  She has been in our Friday Night Writers group, was a generous supporter of Gulf Stream literary magazine over the years.  Barbara died this week, and I'll miss her. This is a terrible loss for the South Florida writing community. You can find Barbara's books here.