Rebecca Masters

Rebecca Masters’ career has been defined by her dual passions for education and service.  Like Pushkin, she is an innovator and likes a challenge.

In 1964, pretending to be a reporter for her high school newspaper, she, along with her best friend at the time, interviewed the Beatles in Washington DC during their first tour to the United States.  Using a combination of charm and guile, she was granted an interview ahead of many older journalists.  This interview led to a stint as a student reporter on the Baltimore News American and interviews with other entertainment celebrities such as Bill Cosby.  As editor-in-chief of her school paper, she won many awards and was invited to speak to other high school journalism students at Columbia University in New York City

Though she received a scholarship from the University of Maryland, Rebecca postponed her entry into college to join Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA), the domestic Peace Corps.  At the time, she was the organization’s youngest trainee.  After one year in VISTA, Rebecca moved to Washington DC and worked in several educational and scientific associations.  During this time, she met Stephanie Doheny, who became a lifelong friend and whose brother, an award winning artist living in England where Stephanie grew up, would later eventually become the illustrator for Pushkin’s New Bag.

During her career as a health educator, Rebecca pioneered a relationship between Japanese and American colleges and lived in Japan for 3 months teaching medical office procedures as part of a joint program between these colleges.  While in Japan, she often used simple cartoons with animal characters to convey concepts and ideas that were difficult to translate into Japanese.  She found this resonated with the young students’ brought up on Japanese anime or “manga.”  She also taught visiting Japanese junior college students for several summers at the University of Washington.

Upon her return from Japan, Rebecca began doing Hospice volunteer work.  Her experiences in the program afforded the opportunity to build many deep and lasting relationship and confront her own fears about death and dying.   She has frequently been asked to speak to Hospice trainees to describe some of her experiences and learning as a volunteer.

Rebecca has worked at numerous medical centers in the Northwest teaching medical terminology.  In 1992, she developed the multimedia CD-ROM Medical Terminology:  A Visual Guide, which was published by Southwestern Publishing Company in Cincinnati, OH.    

She has always loved animals, and had dachshunds for pets throughout her childhood and adult life.  When she first met the real life Pushkin, it was love at first sight. 

“His friendly nature, curiosity and intelligence inspired the fictional Pushkin.  I found in him a way to express my concern about the environment and the hope that through our everyday actions, we can all make a difference.”