Penn, Peggy

PEGGY PENN grew up in Acosta, a mining town in Pennsylvania. Her father was the local doctor whose job it was to rescue miners from disasters. She remembers her father sewing up the miners and the constant wailing of their wives downstairs in her kitchen. Her first voice was the voice of catastrophe. Next was the voice of silence. Her mother had a severe stutter so Peggy learned to speak the unspoken on behalf of her mother. Language became her focus as a child and adult. She was Director of Clinical Training and Education at the Ackerman Institute for the Family from 1985 to 1993 and now dire...