About Linda
Meet Linda Skerbec
First book of poetry written over many years
For her poetry, Linda draws deeply on her experiences as a wife, mother, teacher, therapist and storyteller.
She spent years teaching English and Creative Writing for the Palo Alto School District, and now also works as a therapist helping her clients grow and heal. She earned a BA in English at the University of Washington, an MA in English Education at Stanford, and an MA in Marriage and Family Counseling from the University of Santa Clara, all with highest honors. She has written books for Wiley Press and Prentice Hall, including Imagination and Language that helps people draw on both hemispheres of their brain as they create. She also headed the English Department and wrote multicultural and creative writing curriculum for the Palo Alto School District. Linda now devotes herself to writing poetry, doing healing therapy, and presenting workshops to bring joy and growth to people of all ages as they learn and write their own poetry.
Linda also just finished another book of poetry, The Light of Hawaii Forever.
About Author
Meet Linda Skerbec
Linda Skerbec knows the importance of staying connected to the vitality of life and nature. Hospitalized and facing a life-threatening illness from age four through five, she learned to discover miracles all around her. Each day, she watched for the beams of sunlight that gleamed into her room and created rainbows on the wall; breathed in the scent of flowers and freshly-mown grass outside; and, one day, a bright ladybug flew in and brought the outside into her! She also experienced the kindness in the eyes of doctors and nurses, who spent time with her answering questions and bringing hope.
The time spent alone awakened a keen sensitivity to life and a deep faith that blesses her with strength, love, and insight. Also, her father, a physician, who read and sang for his family each day, filled her heart with the joy and rhythm of words and music—plus he inspired her with his love of learning, his dedication to healing, and the wonder of the special roses he grew. She remembers her mother watching sunsets and sharing the wonder in the changing colors of each season. Linda, in turn, shares, Take time to feel the gentle touch and scent of a rose. Breathe in the deep fragrance of a gardenia the gives its grace to you and asks for nothing in return…
Luke Rickford, her editor writes,
“As the sun is rising, Linda likes to go outside and breathe in the Light that fills her hands and soul with the life growing and singing all around her. What can be made holy today by her vision and insight? What is made whole by the words inside her poetry? Her work invites you to draw close to nature—and to experience her breadth of wonder and depth of feeling in the brilliance she gives back to life through her words. Carefully she creates her art—choosing where to place each precious word to catch the light as she writes…
What makes the poet write but the fair Paradise of Nature’s Light
-John Keats 1817
We dwell between the air and the earth where color and light embrace… Light is the greatest unnoticed force of transfiguration in the world: it literally alters everything it touches… The intense passion of the great artist glows forth in the rich colors of his creation. —John O’Donohue, Beauty, the Invisible Embrace
Linda’s poetry brings together a child’s wonder of nature and her spirit with a maturity for deep understanding.
–David Berson, Computer Scientist
Themes of Her Work
The Pillars of Linda’s Work
Light
A healing force shining through every moment.
Nature
Orchids, waves, and stars reflecting eternity.
Compassion
Acts of kindness that darkness cannot put out.
Wonder
A marvel to behold
Healing
From wounds to wisdom, from shadows to light.