Meet Priscilla Gilman, Our Parenting Expert

I’m honored and excited to be joining the Quiet Revolution as the Parenting and Education Advice Columnist! I’m a former professor of English literature at Yale University and Vassar College and the author of a parenting memoir, The Anti-Romantic Child: A Story of Unexpected Joy. I’m also the mother of two introverted boys, Benj, age 15, and James, age 12, and the stepmother of a 12-year-old girl. Here at the Quiet Revolution, I’ll be writing a regular advice column in response to letters I receive from you on any parenting or education topics insofar as they relate to introversion.

Since Susan and I were introduced on Facebook by a mutual friend a few years ago, we’ve become not only admirers of each other’s books but also great virtual friends and allies. Quiet knocked my proverbial socks off on first reading, and since then, I’ve turned to it over and over as a kind of secular scripture: a source of wisdom, compassion, and practical ideas. Susan’s work has given help, hope, and a sense of fellowship to my two introverted boys (one of whom is on the autism spectrum) and has inspired some of my own writing. In the wake of the tragic school shootings in Newtown, as I grappled with my complicated emotions about the coverage of the tragedy, I thought often of Quiet. When Susan emailed to suggest I write an op-ed and put me in touch with her editor at The New York Times, it was especially fitting and moving given how much her book had been in my thoughts. I'm grateful I had the opportunity to spread her message to people in the autism community who might not have heard of Quiet. It is an honor to bring my voice to her revolution!

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