Professor discusses sex change in book Colby’s Boylan appears on ‘Oprah’

WATERVILLE – A Colby College professor who had a sex change last year will have a book she wrote about her experience published this summer.

Jennifer Finney Boylan, who is co-chair of Colby’s English department, wrote “She’s Not There,” which is being published by Doubleday and has a release date of July 27.

The book has been chosen as an alternate selection of the Book of the Month Club, contains an afterword by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Richard Russo, who lives in Maine, and a forward by author Anna Quindlen, also a Pulitzer Prize winner.

When Boylan was James Finney Boylan, he taught creative writing students to believe in their dreams and have the courage to be themselves. Last year Boylan heeded those words and took the drastic step that would change his life forever: He became a woman.

“I feel totally at peace,” said Boylan, 44. “I feel like somebody who has gotten out of jail after 40 years for something she didn’t do – that I’ve been pardoned by the governor.”

Earlier this week, Boylan appeared on “Oprah,” where she told a national TV audience about her life. Boylan married a woman named Grace in 1988 and moved to Maine that year. They have two children, now 7 and 9.

Boylan said she and Grace still live together, but as friends, not husband and wife. Her children call her “Maddy” rather than “Daddy.”

Boylan teaches American literature, creative writing and fiction writing at Colby, and has written seven novels and a collection of short stories.

Colby spokesman Stephen Collins said Boylan is a respected member of the faculty, who is well-liked by students and colleagues. Three years ago, Boylan won the college’s Charles Basset Senior Class Award.

“It’s the senior class recognizing their favorite professor, and Jenny got it, which is an indication of how she is valued in the classroom,” Collins said.

Students said Boylan’s sex change has been a source of interest, but not controversy.

Colby senior Hi’ilei Dye, 21, said after Boylan’s sex change, she found herself looking at Boylan – at her build, how she dressed but that curiosity ultimately disappeared, and she rarely thought about it. Dye is taking an advanced fiction workshop with Boylan and previously took screenwriting with her.

Boylan’s reputation as an excellent teacher is what people know her best for, Dye said.

“She’s hysterical and intelligent and critical,” Dye said. “She’s just so personable. Having her as a teacher in class made my writing so much better because I felt so comfortable with her.”

Boylan, who is scheduled to go on a book tour this summer, said people she has talked to have not passed judgment on her.

“I’ve been very moved by the goodness of the people of central Maine and I’ve seen that the people of Maine are every bit as sophisticated, intelligent and loving as people anywhere else on the planet,” she said.