ECHO HERON

GREETINGS AND WELCOME!

I've been asked to supply the basics of my life, so here's the off-the-cuff version of the Echo Heron Story:

After a leisurely ten month gestation, I came into being along with

a record number of other boomers. My given name, Echo Ruah Anne Elizabeth Philomena Salato, is the result of The Great Name War which took place between my British/​Dutch mother and Italian father. 'Ruah' was to honor the Mohawk woman reportedly thrown into the lineage mix along the way.

I migrated to San Francisco during the Summer of Love where I worked

as alegal secretary by day and traveled in some unique social and political circles by night. it was an education in diversity to say the least. A day in the life might have included a chat with Benny Bufano over morning coffee, evacuate the office because of a bomb threat in the afternoon, attend a dinner with Mayors Alioto and Lindsey at Melvin Belli's apartment, head over to City Lights to hear Ferlinghetti read, then top off the night at Filmore West listening to Janice Joplin wail.

Along the way I married, gave birth to my son, Simon, divorced and,

in 1972 returned to college. I received my RN in 1977 and, for the next 18 years, worked in the emergency room and coronary care units of a trauma hospital, living out the experiences I would eventually include in INTENSIVE CARE and CONDITION CRITICAL.

In 1983 Reader's Digest printed a story of mine,

(click on the INTENSIVE CARE; THE STORY OF A NURSE link to the left)and in 1985, Antheneum contracted with me to write an autobiographical account of my life as a critical care nurse. In 1987, INTENSIVE CARE; THE STORY OF A NURSE was published, and in 1988 it went on the New York Times bestseller list for two months.

I soon gained a reputation in the popular media for having a

straight-from-the-hip manner of delivering information about the politics of the American healthcare industry; I found that being passionate about my subject was the only way to overcome stage fright. Trust me on this: odd transformations take place in a normally shy person when facing a CNN camera lens or Oprah in the flesh. I was, and continue to be, an activist for patient and nurses' rights.

In 1992, I left my position in CCU and ER and moved to Montserrat,

West Indies where I lived with my cat, Mooshie. Truth be told, my cat and I were so inseparable, people came to view us as a mixed-species couple rather than owner and pet.

After battling hurricanes, giant poisonous frogs, racial discrimination,

and iguana the size of washing machines, Mooshie and I left the West Indies to travel the US and Europe, trying places on for size. We lived in New York, San Francisco, Hollywood, Chicago, Los Angeles, Ojai, Orange County, and the Gulf Coast of Florida. For the last few years I resided in Alan Watts's old house in Northern California where I continue to write.

For further personal information, please refer to my FAQS page or...

read my books.

If you have any questions or comments, please don't hesitate

to email me at HeronWrite@​gmail.com Also, if you think I've left out any pertinent information about my life...like my years of service in the Lithuanian Army, please email. Thanks - Echo.

***ALERT***

For all you TWITTER.COM users...I have been notified that someone on Twitter is indulging in a spot of identity theft by fraudulently posing as Echo Heron, Author.
PLEASE BE ADVISED THIS PERSON IS NOT ME, ECHO HERON, AUTHOR OF INTENSIVE CARE, etc...
PLEASE HELP -- if you have a Twitter account, please intercede on my behalf and ask
this person to cease and desist using my identity for his/​her Twitter account.
Thank you. Echo