Life as Observed from the Middle Seat
is a collection of humorous, scary, sad, dangerous, and happy, anecdotes of a brilliant writer whose readers compare her to Erma Bombeck, the famous humorist of the seventies. Janice Fingado's tales include growing up in a small town in upstate New York, attending the Rochester Institute of Technology, meeting her husband on a train, and becoming a devoted partner for fifty-nine years. After their daughter entered Stanford, Janice and her husband lived abroad for forty-four years, leading to many unique experiences. They lived in six foreign countries where Janice overcame her loneliness. She learned to speak three different languages, studied gold and silver smithing in Switzerland, and bought semi-precious stones from Brazil and other countries. After her husband died in 2005, Janice wondered if she could have had a career as a jeweler. Although she had never worked all the years she was married, she took a courageous leap of faith and rented a studio at the age of seventy-eight. Her joy in teaching and creating works of art caused her to think about writing her life story to encourage and inspire other older women about how satisfying life can be when you become a professional.
In 2008, three years after starting out to prove herself, Janice was awarded a bronze trophy for Best Designer of the Year at the First Annual Arts Awards in the Okanagan, Canada. She is an inspiration to all her students.