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Here I am with my dog,
Genki. "Genki" means "lively" in Japanese. |
I was always reading and
drawing when I was little. I went through sketchbooks so fast my
mother bought me rolls of shelfpaper to draw on. I remember
being scolded for trying to read during family meals. When my
parents made me turn my bedroom lights out at night, I would
read by the tiny red light on the temperature control for my
electric blanket. I grew up in Riverside--a rather hot part of
Southern California. I was forced to sweat through many books,
and not just because I was worried about the hero.
The first thing I can remember wanting to be is a children's
book writer and illustrator. I also loved animals. We had a dog
and a big outdoor cage full of doves. My good friend, Jenny,
lived on a dairy farm and it was critter heaven for me. We would
jump her horses bareback over bales of hay and ride for miles in
the hills.
When I was in college I spent a year in Nairobi, Kenya as an
exchange student. I didn't know much about Africa before I left,
but I knew it had lots of wildlife. I traveled throughout East
and Central Africa and saw lions, elephants, gorillas, Cape
buffalo, and many other animals. I met my future husband, Rob,
in Kenya. He was also an exchange student. We both loved living
in another country.
I have a B.A. in Social Science from the University of
California, Irvine, and a Master of Public Health from the
University of California, Berkeley. I've worked as a legislative
assistant for foreign affairs for a California congressman and
as a international health consultant. Over the years Rob and I
lived in the Marshall Islands, South Africa, the Philippines,
and Japan. We have three children, Travis (17), Kelsey (14), and
Connor (11). Each of them was born in a different country.
My family lived in Japan for about six years. When we arrived my
son Travis had just turned four. We put him in Sakura Yochien, a
Japanese preschool. Although Travis didn't know a word of
Japanese, he learned fast. His first Japanese word was "baka,"
which means "stupid." Travis' second Japanese word was
"chinchin," which I am NOT going to translate. Let's
just say it is something only boys have.
The Japanese mothers at the preschool told me the story of
Hachiko. I thought it was a wonderful tale. When we returned to
the U.S. I decided I wanted to be a writer, just like I'd
planned to be when I was four.(Better late than never.) Hachiko
is famous in Japan, and I thought his story would be a wonderful
one to share with English-speaking children. HACHIKO is my first
children's picture book.
My second children's book, GORILLA DOCTORS, is a non-fiction
book about scientists working to save mountain gorillas in
Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. I first
visited mountain gorillas in 1978 when I was living in East
Africa. I was able to go back again in 2003. It was a wonderful
experience!
We now live in Oakland, California. I've written many science
and nature articles for adults and for children--mostly about
animals, of course!
When I write I am ably kept company by my yellow labrador
retriever, Genki, and my son Connor's cockapoo, Tux. They
sometimes respond to "sit." They always respond to
"cookie." I doubt Genki or Tux would spend years
waiting at a train station for me--one whisper of
"cookie" and they'd be gone--but I love them anyway.
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