Lori Tharps ’94 is a freelance journalist, author, and mother. She is the co-author of the award-winning book, Hair Story: Untangling the Roots of Black Hair in America (St. Martin’s Press). Her work can also be read in the anthologies, Young Wives Tales: Stories of Love and Partnership (Seal Press), Naked: Black Women Bare All About their Skin, Hair, Hips, Lips and Other Parts (Perigee), Bitchfest: Ten Years of Cultural Criticism from the Pages of Bitch Magazine (FSG), and Women: Images & Realities. A Multicultural Anthology (Avalon). Tharps is the creator and writer of the blog, My American Meltingpot (www.myamericanmeltingpot.com). Her memoir, Kinky Gazpacho: Life, Love & Spain (Atria) debuted in March 2008. Currently Tharps lives in Philadelphia, where she teaches writing at Temple University and is at work on a novel about motherhood and identity. She spends her summers in Spain and can say I love you in seven languages.