Kitchen Privileges is a book that I feel as though I have been writing ever since I was twelve years old.

In these pages, I've tried to show how my mother's belief in me kept alive my dream to be a writer. My father's early death left her with three young children to support. A generation later my husband's early death left me in exactly that position except that I had five children.

Mother supported us by renting rooms, allowing our paying guests to have the privilege of preparing light meals in the kitchen. I supported my family by writing radio shows. Very early in the morning I put my typewriter on the kitchen table before I went to work in Manhattan and spent a few privileged and priceless hours working on my first novel.

I have found that dreams do come true, and I hope that anyone reading this book may feel encouraged to follow his or her own dreams even when the odds against achieving them seem great.