Myfanwy Collins was born in Montreal, Canada during the 1967 World’s Fair. By 5, she had a crush on James Garner from the Rockford Files. She wrote her first short story in first grade—about a girl and her dog who run away from home but actually live under the porch. At 10, her parents separated and then her father died unexpectedly in his sleep, which may explain Myfanwy’s lifelong insomnia. Her mother remarried 5 months later and her new step-dad moved the family to a small town in upstate New York. Myfanwy liked her new step-dad at first; he was nice, but then he became an abusive alcoholic just like her biological father had been. Myfanwy loved going to school—because it got her away from home—and she was glad when her step-dad died of cancer of when she was 16. In college, she took a full load of classes, worked full-time, and dated an older guy who worked as a prison guard. Myfanwy could have been a high school English teacher when she graduated, but after one of her students asked her to go to the prom with him she decided to go to graduate school instead. That was when her boyfriend cheated on her and broke up with her. She didn’t expect to be so glad that that happened, but she started to have a lot of fun. She stopped writing her thesis (she wanted to write fiction anyway—and did) and went on the road with Cirque du Soleil. After that, there were some other jobs and other boyfriends, but all that matters is that she met Allen. They have always had a chemical connection and she loves how open and how funny he is. They got married and tried for years to have a baby, but couldn’t. In 2001, her mother died from lung cancer and that was a huge heartbreak. Myfanwy quit everything and she traveled with Allen from national park to national park throughout the US and Canada. Eventually, they went home. In 2006, Myfanwy unexpectedly became pregnant. It was terrifying and exhilarating. She knew that she was carrying her whole family inside her--a new life was beginning and then Henry was born and everybody is pretty happy about that.

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Thu, Oct 2 2008 08:14 | James Garner, Myfanwy Collins, Cirque du Soleil

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Michael Kimball

#93 Myfanwy Collins: Terrifying and Exhilarating