What's in a Name

Not surprisingly, a question I am often asked is what does PZ stand for and how did I get the name. Here is the short account. It may be natural to assume, but the initials PZ—just P and Z—no periods please—do not stand for anything specific. Although it wasn’t my given birth name, eventually, I became it, legally and all. Always ‘the pleaser,’ I felt it my calling early on to help others. If something was wrong I wanted to fix it. I had little patience for or tolerance of conflict. In this light, I guess you could say I’ve been problem-solving my entire life. My niece gave me an abridged version of ‘the pleaser;’ it evolved into PZ, and it stuck. Usually name changes are more customary for Hollywood and entertainers and are not uncommon in those circles. In my case, as a writer, it seemed to fit. (Amazing how a nickname can take on a life of its own!)