Author: Barbara Helvey-Hughes

Barbara Hughes Barbara received a B.A. from Indiana University, Bloomington, in 1975 with majors in Sociology and Political Science. Her minor was International Law. She tutored returning Viet Nam vets and was the only undergrad to be appointed Teaching Assistant for their Sociology classes; she was one of only a few undergrads invited to attend the Indiana University’s Writer’s Conference in recognition of her creative writing talents by its organizer, Dr. Robert W. Mitchner. She began a career in college publishing with McGraw-Hill, in August 1975, and worked with three other companies in the industry and, later, consulted with Ed Yordan, a pioneer in computer languages such as FORTRAN and COBOL, where she helped his company enter the college sales market. She raised a compassionate, wonderful human and was married to an amazing artist, Jack R. Hughes, for thirty-three years and until his 2015 death. She ran three businesses her husband and she started. She rises early to write. And, breathe. In 2000, one of her children’s movie scripts, out of nearly 6,000, reached the finals in the Academy Awards competition, the Nicholl Fellowship. There were only 114. She was thrilled her name was on the Academy site for many years and deflated when they finally got around to removing the long-outdated list. She traveled extensively in England, France, Spain, Morocco, Italy, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Senegal, Jamaica, and throughout the continental US. Many of the places she experienced during her travels have made their way into her poems and essays. She spends summers in her very own Walden, nestled in the mist of The Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, with her Soul-Mate Peter McKinnon She is grateful for her life. Extremely so…thank you. www.hughesgallery.net https://hughesgallery.net/barbarahelveyhughes/