Cat Lady (Roberta Beach Jacobson)

Roberta Beach Jacobson is an American humorist and author. In 1974, she left suburban Chicago to explore Europe. For all of these years, she has been wandering around, map in hand, scratching her head. Can someone out there please give her directions?

She makes her home in a mountainous village on a tiny Greek island. It's the sort of remote spot where animals outnumber people, although some of the animals weren't actually invited. Roberta has discovered goats holding a community dance on the roof of her farmhouse, while their bearded relatives were making a meal of her car's windshield wipers.

Roberta (a.k.a. The Cat Lady) shares her life with 28 cats and 3 dogs (all rescues who since have been spayed or neutered). Since she must remain at home to keep their food bowls filled (she hasn't slept a wink in 4 years), she decided to become a writer. She was trained as a psychologist, but who has time for that?

Animal stories practically write themselves, or at least that's her plan. All the Cat Lady needs to do is wait by the kitty flap, see who wanders in and write about it. Did you know a lamb can slip effortlessly through a pet flap? Roberta chronicles the antics of her felines to share with the world. She has contributed to, ghosted or translated more than 40 books. You can find some of her credits listed here.

Roberta's photo by Alf B. Meier. Used by permission.