Jeanne holds a PhD in English and a law degree. As director of the Black Mountain College II (SUNY Buffalo, NY), she organized the publication of the Black Mountain II Review which was widely distributed (even carried by City Lights, Lawrence Ferlinghetti's book store in San Francisco). In 1995 she became Executive Director of the Western New York Regional office of the New York Civil Liberties Union (a branch of the ACLU). Jeanne-Noel now lives in Croton, and is on the board of the Croton Council on the Art