Biography & Family
I was born in Champaign. My father, Donald C. Dodds, Jr., was a farmer and I lived on a farm until I was 5. When my dad (who still refers to himself as "the worst farmer in the history of farming") started the travel business Doddson Travel, the family moved “in town” and the farm became what is now the Interstate Research Park. I lived in District 4 – 1503 Waverly – and went to Carrie Busey until I was eleven. At that time, I moved with my mom and sisters to Evanston where I attended both middle school and then Evanston Township High School. I finished high school early and headed to college: first To Boston University and then to Brandeis, where I graduated cum laude with a dual major in Philosophy and Psychology.
After that, I attended graduate school in creative writing at The University of Houston (studying with Rosellen Brown and Obie award-winning playwright, Ntozake Shange.) At Dr. Shange’s urging, I transferred to the Graduate Screenwriting Program at UCLA, one of eleven accepted out of 2,500 applicants. My first screenplay was nominated for the prestigious Goldwyn Award.
While at Houston, I met the rock-and-roll musician of my dreams: my husband, Jon “Cody” Sokolski. Cody lived in New York City (where he was also born and raised). We were married in New York in 1986. Much to all our parents' consternation, I then returned to Los Angeles while Cody remained In New York. After UCLA, I finally moved to New York, joining Cody in his one room, peeling-plaster, Lower East Side tenement that only a young, starry-eyed couple could love (and we did.) There followed the standard set of lean years most newlyweds endure during which I fully utilized my formal education waitressing and Cody played and toured. When our first child, Nate, was born in 1990, the three of us moved back to Champaign where Cody opened Periscope Records & Tapes. He continues to play rock and roll with The Delta Kings.
Since then, I have been lucky enough to hold several fun jobs: first book-keeper for Periscope, writer and producer of a monthly newsletter for That’s Rentertainment; taught writing at Parkland (where I also edited Parkland's literary magazine Tamaqua), wrote and edited the music newspaper Scope; was Music Editor of The Octopus; and am now a freelance music journalist writing for publications ranging from Chicago’s Illinois Entertainer to Disney’s Family Fun. I have interviewed national musicians such as Smokey Robinson, Iggy Pop, Solomon Burke, Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown, Todd Rundgren, Beck, Moby, and Rodney Crowell; local musicians such as Angie Heaton, The Living Blue, and American Minor, and non-musicians like Bill Geist and the Florida A&M Music Director. Along the way, Cody and I had our second child, Lillian, in 1998.
Prior to my appointment to fill the District 4 vacancy on the Champaign City Council, I had a long history of community service - probably inevitable since my great-grandmother helped start both the library and Burnham Hospital, my grandfather was a Park District Board commissioner for 40 years, my grandmother served almost as long on the Burnham Hospital Board. My uncle, Newt Dodds, is currently a Park District Commissioner, and my father, who has been involved with Parkland almost from its beginning, was just recently president of Parkland College Foundation (both were named Champaign County Most Valuable Citizens 2006 by the Chamber of Commerce.)
I was board menber and past President of the Library Foundation for over ten years, as well as a board member of 40N/88W, the Champaign County Arts, Culture and Entertainment Council and the Marquee Council of Krannert Center for the Performing Arts. I remain part of the C-U Downtown Independent Volunteer Association, and am most happily involved with a lot of dedicated, caring parents in school Bake sales/Fun Nights/Teacher Appreciations/Band-baseball-choir Boosters/ Girld Scouts/kid activity things.
Family
Marci’s husband is Jon “Cody” Sokolski. She has two children: Nate and Lillian.
Her father, Donald Dodds, lives in town, as does her mother, Martha Sanford, and her step mother, Alice Dodds. Her sister and brother-in-law, Christine and Ken Bruce and their daughter, Callie, also live here. They own Dodds Athletic Tours, which they've built into America's premier athletic travel provider. Her youngest sister, K.K. Dodds, is an actress who has had numerous roles on stage and in movies and television (she was most recently featured on "Prison Break"). She lives in Chicago and Los Angeles.