Who Am I?

　Y.R. Raven, aka "Raven", former, fashion model (Marimekko, Bogner, Giorgio St. Angelo, Karl Lagerfeld),  Broadway show actress/dancer (Bob Fossee, Gower Champion, Tommy Tune, Juan Carlos Esposito, Ken Howard, Meatloaf), and TV talk show host, has been a caregiver for over fifteen years to her husband, William E. Shelton, Jr., first African-American to manage a world class tennis player, Andre Agassi 

I am a speaker, an author, a consultant, a fashionista, a wife, a mom, and a full time caregiver.

I am a third generation New Yorker, and a graduate of the Dalton School and Sarah Lawrence College, with advanced degrees from the University of Madrid, Spain.  My upcoming book,
"A Fashionista's Guide to Care Giving," chronicles my fifteen years of care giving (at one point caring for both my mother and my husband in two different cities).

The bio I use for speaking engagements reads as follows:

"When both her husband and then her mother were stricken with cancer, within months of each other, one in New York City and the other in Alexandria, Virginia, Raven fell back on her experience in TV Production and Fashion, and pretended that she was coordinating two shows in two different cities. She'd often created Production Books, normally used to produce shows and events. She used this same format to create a Production Book for Caregivers.

It is humorous, light, and an easy read since the one thing care- givers do not have is time. It's filled with practical how to tips and action lists, as well as tips on how to maintain beauty, wellness, and tranquility in your life, indeed have a life, while being a full time caregiver."

This blog is the foundation of my upcoming book, A Fashionista's Guide to Care Giving. Since we may all become caregivers, whether we're ready or not, my first blog is titled "Thrust into Care Giving". It started on February 1, 2011 and is dedicated to my mom my husband. .