Karen Lenore Ort:  

I left home shortly after high school and worked in various jobs until, at the age of 21, I realized that I needed a career. I applied to take several civil service tests and was fortunate enough to get on with the U.S. Customs Service in Nogales, Arizona. This was terrific; I had quite a bit of family in the area. Over the years I¿ve had several different jobs with Customs. I became a uniformed Customs Inspector on the Mexican Border back when women in that field were few and far between. I left this position to go into the commercial side of Customs, which was a much better fit for my personality. (The legal language of value laws and court cases on classification seemed to dovetail with my love for foreign languages!) I¿ve moved all over the country but consider Arizona to be the home of my heart. While I¿ve enjoyed the amenities of a big city I find that I prefer little podunk towns like Shady Shores, Texas where the 75 year-old mayor puts on her jeans and boots to work on the volunteer pot-hole fil...Expand for more