About This Site

Carole R. Fontaine’s life encompassed many fields. She was predominantly known as a Wisdom Biblical Scholar, in the area of women in the Ancient Near East, and was also a professor with a specialty in Human Rights. Highly published in academia, she was also a research associate for the Women’s UN Report (WURN). Activities as an activist, poet, multi-disciplined artist, writer, public theologian, and content expert on TV, as well as in governmental and NGO settings, kept her busy for hours every day.

Considered one of the top five Wisdom Scholars in the world, Carole’s work also focused on justice, personal spiritual growth, the curriculum for non-scholars, and dedication to freedom of religion. Her art practices were varied, and she offered interdisciplinary courses throughout her years of teaching.

In Carole’s early career, her field studies renderings at an archeological site were so proficient that she was sent to the shade of the tent to memorialize the artifacts on paper. In her later drawings and charcoals, the sense of ancient languages, talismans, and symbols graces the canvas and is a nod to this earlier time. Carole explored many visual disciplines, including life drawing, charcoal, painting, cartoons, mixed media, glasswork, macrame, polymer clay beading, one-of-a-kind art books, gardening, cooking, and extensive beadwork.

Her writing can be found on Medium, Substack, and WordPress as well as in peer-reviewed journals, articles, and numerous books. Wikipedia lists much of her scholarship and work for cable TV. Some of her experimental videos are on YouTube. It is our hope to add the many unpublished poems and creative writings to this website over time.

This website celebrates Carole, born April 11, 1950, in Lima, OH, and who grew up in the black ghetto in Florida with her mother, Olive Jean Rader, a seamstress, and her father, Howard Foster, a gambler. She slept on a sofa in the living room, and her clothes were kept in a paper bag. Recognizing Carole’s strong intuition, her father utilized her gift in picking numbers. This intuition served her well later on in following obscure leads in her scholarship, healing, and prayer work.

The library and church brought intellectual and spiritual meaning to her life as a young girl. Her sense of social justice started early on when Carole left the church as a teen, when she was forbidden to bring her black friend to service. Eventually, she attended Florida State University and married Craig William Fontaine PhD., who was brilliant in his own right and later made his mark in the world of nuclear power control rooms and ergonomics, inventing the number keypad to the right of the alphabet keys on standard keyboards. The young couple left Florida for Yale and then on to Duke as their lustrous careers blossomed. Along the way, their homes were shared with a couple of Tonkinese cats, which brought feline joy to their lives.

Carole, upon moving out of her retirement home in the Berkshires of Massachusetts, made a wishful prayer for peace on earth, equality and dignity for women worldwide, for her library to find a good home, and the legacy of her writing and art to be shared for generations to come. Her books, writing, and art will live on, and may all her wishes come true.

May those of you who peruse this website share the story of a poor girl who, through her brains, tenacity, and hard work, surpassed the American Dream and became a great influence and gift to the world through her writing, art, and activism.