Issues of Identity

"In my case that mute backward-reaching distance was my own childhood. It had been lived out of my country, away from the signals and clues by which a self, almost without knowing it, finds its way to adulthood." pg. 76

I liked this short passage because in it, Boland deals with the 'issue of her identity. I found it interesting that Boland felt a need to have a physical place to ground herself, to say "Yes, this is where I come from and it is what shaped me". I believe that a place shouldn't define one but rather we should learn from wherever we may find ourselves at any point in time. Identity in terms of nationality is not much of an issue in the States, but I think that we have a monopoly on that because we are 'the melting pot'. Are there other ways that we might try to categorize ourselves in terms of our identity?

I can't figure out how to contact her!

So, I received a comment on my enormous post about Eavan Boland by an actual, real-life Boland scholar, Jody Allen Randolph. Ann Page suggested that I try to contact her... but my efforts at finding contact information have failed miserably. So... suggestions?

This is a page that has some info on her (but no contact info!!): http://www.westmont.edu/_academics/departments/english/dr-jody-allenrandolph.html

I can't find her in the directory, either. If you have any luck, please let me know. Otherwise, we may just have to live with our chance, one-time encounter.