Liza M Tilson

Butterflies or Tigers: a Memoir Liza M Tilson

In 1923, letters were the only means
available to Liza Mitnik Tilson to
hold on to loved ones left behind in
Colombia when her father brought
his young family to what he thought
would be a much better life in the
United States. Only four years old at
the time, Liza would soon become
an inveterate letter writer.

Six years later, the Great Depression
fell on Liza's already
dysfunctional family. In 1936, in a
desperate effort to feed his family
of six, her father uprooted them
from suburban New Jersey to a
primitive farm in central Florida,
forcing each member of the family
to explore new coping and survival
skills. Always an outstanding
student, Liza's first encounter with
higher education began in triumph
with a college scholarship created
especially for her, and ended in shame and humiliation when she
was expelled for what private
school administrators considered
serious rule breaking.

Running from failure and disgrace
to New York, her new life included
marriage and motherhood, years of
evening classes at City College of NewYork, and two satisfying careers first as a research secretary-typist at New York University, and later as a bilingual teacher in New York City public schools.

Liza's lifelong letter writing paid off when, at age 80, urged by a friend, she entered two stories in a writing competition sponsored by The Way of St. Francis magazine. One took first prize and was published in the magazine; the second appeared in a later issue. Her first book, The Colorful World of a Barrio Kindergarten, was published in 2003, and her second, It's About My Son, followed in 2007.