Van Blaricom, Colleen

Having grown up all over the country, Colleen Van Blaricom finally settled down in the Honesdale area three years ago to assume her position as an assistant editor at Highlights for Children. Colleen's responsibilities at the periodical include the primary editing of children's activities and puzzles, and the secondary editing of nonfiction, biographies and "thinking" features.She has "her fingers in lots of other pies" including developing a set of activity books for kids and participating in the start-up of a new product development division at Highlights.Colleen is a graduate of Penn State University where she earned a B.A. in advertising. After graduating, she worked for the advertising agency Kenyon & Eckhardt in New York City as a media planner, then moved to a daily newspaper, the Wilkes-Barre Times Leader.Colleen is a member of the Educational Press Association, the International Reading Association, and the Society of Children's Book Writers.Even though she does plenty of it at Highlights, Colleen also enjoys reading and writing in her spare time. She likes cross-country and downhill skiing, and making crafts, especially quilts. "I always have lots of projects going on at home, just as I do at work," she says, "and there are a zillion other things I'd like to try but haven't yet!"