Occupation: I am a reference librarian at C.H. Booth Library, a writer, and an editor.

Family: Bill Brassard and I make our home together. My nephew, Dylan, and Bill’s nieces, Kristen and Kelly, have really enlightened our lives. They are just so much fun.

Pets: We have Libby, a 4-year-old springer spaniel. She and I vie for who will be the Alpha dog in the household.

How long have you been in Newtown? I would say on and off for about 12 years.

What do you do in your free time? I like to hike. I enjoy nature and I like to travel. I do photography, anything to do with nature. I just started snowshoeing this year and I love that. The snowshoes are kind of high and dry now, though. I love to read and I love to write. I’ve been doing some memoirs for my nephew about my sister and myself growing up. I’m writing some articles on local history and preservation for the Connecticut Libraries publication, and I would really love to write a mystery. That would be fun. I also like bookbinding; making books from scratch, that is.

Do you have a favorite photographer? Ansel Adams. I love his work.

What books have you read lately? I read this great book recently called The Lost Painting. It’s fantastic. It’s a nonfiction book set in Italy. It’s about art history and it’s a mystery. I think I liked it better than The DaVinci Code.

Do you have a favorite travel destination? The Southwest; Sedona in Arizona has these red rocks unlike anything else. And we’ve been to the Pacific Northwest. It’s beautiful. We went to Crater Lake in Oregon, which is amazing. We saw the Redwoods in California. Everyone should see them sometime in their life.

What is the best thing about Newtown? The history of the town. I’ve been working with the oral history and the archive project and I just enjoy that connection to the community.

Do you carry anything interesting in your purse? I have a cell phone that’s rarely on, a flash card, and $5 on a good day. That’s it.

What is your personal philosophy? Anything I do, I try to give my best effort and full attention to. I try to be kind to others and encourage them. And not take myself too seriously.

Where would you like to be in 20 years? I’d still like to be hiking national parks. I would want to have evolved into a more spiritual being and I’d have liked to have written more books.

SNAPSHOT: Andrea Zimmermann