Chautauqua Workshop - Faculty Biographies

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	SUSAN CAMPBELL BARTOLETTI Susan credits her eighteen years as an eighth-grade English teacher with helping her to become a children’s book author. Her nonfiction books have won many honors, including the ALA Robert F. Sibert Award for Distinguished Information Book and the NCTE Orbis Pictus Award for Distinguished Nonfiction (Black Potatoes: The Story of the Great Irish Famine, 1845 - 1850), the ALA Best Book for Young Adults (Kids on Strike!), and the Jane Addams’ Children’s Book Award (Growing Up in Coal Country). Her novels include A Coal Miner’s Bride: The Diary of Anetka Kaminska, 1896 (Scholastic, 2000) and The Journal of Finn Reardon, A Newsie: New York City, 1899 (Scholastic, 2003). Her picture books include The Christmas Promise (Blue Sky/Scholastic, 2001) and Nobody’s Nosier than a Cat (Hyperion, 2003). Susan is a visiting professor of creative in the graduate program in children’s literature at Hollins University.
	LARRY DANE BRIMNER Growing up in the relative isolation of Kodiak Island, Alaska gave Larry a strong interest in reading and creative writing early in life. During his twenty-year teaching career, he began to write for publication, and he feels that his teaching experience gave him a unique ability to write nonfiction. After the success of his first children’s book, BMX Freestyle (Watts, 1987), an International Reading Association Children’s Choice, Larry has gone on to write more than 95 books for young people. The authenticity of his books comes partly from his willingness to immerse himself in his subject matter. For his nonfiction sports book Snowboarding (Watts, 1998), Larry’s research included zipping downhill on a snowboard. One of his most recent books, The Littlest Wolf (HarperCollins) won the Gold Oppenheim Award for best book of 2002. Larry holds a BA in British literature from San Diego State University, and advanced degrees in writing and curriculum development.
	PAT BRODERICK Pat is the vice-president, editorial director, and cofounder of Teaching PreK-8 (formerly Early Years), a respected and award-winning periodical for educators. For the past fifteen years, the faculty at Chautauqua has been enhanced by her unlimited store of knowledge and heightened awareness of how best to encourage writers and readers.
	KENT L. BROWN JR. Kent is the Editor in Chief of Highlights for Children magazine and has been publisher of Boyds Mills Press since its introduction in 1990. A past-president of the Educational Press Association of America, Kent has served on the publications committee of the International Reading Association and is a member of the National Council of Teachers of English, the American Society of Magazine Editors, and the National Press Club. Kent was recently appointed to the Board of Trustees of the Roger Tory Peterson Institute, a national, non-profit nature education organization located in Jamestown, NY.
	SUSAN TAYLOR BROWN Susan began her writing career with newsletters and publicity for local businesses, and then moved on to freelancing for newspapers and regional parenting publications. Her first fiction sale, a short story sold to Visions magazine, evolved into a young adult novel, Flirtation Waltz, published by Cora Verlog (Germany) in 1990. Her second young adult novel, Listen to the Gypsy, appeared in 1991. Since then she has published a number of easy readers, most recently, The Very Patient Pony (Writer’s Press, 1998). Her picture book Can I Pray with My Eyes Open? (Hyperion Press, 1999) soon followed. According to Publishers Weekly, Susan’s book conveys “the deep yearning of the child to speak to God during all the moments of the day.” More than 100 of Susan’s articles and stories have appeared in magazines for children and adults. She has been Writer-in-Residence for the San Jose Alternative Schools At-Risk program. In addition to writing, Susan does motivational speaking on topics such as taking risks and having the courage to follow your dreams. www.susantaylorbrown.com
	MARY LOU CARNEY Mary Lou is the creator of two magazines for young people and the editor of eighteen books. In 1998, she created and became editor-in-chief of the award-winning Guideposts for Teens magazine, which is published six times each year. In 1999, she launched Guideposts for Kids on the Web, an electronic magazine based on the popular Guideposts for Kids magazine that she started a decade earlier. Her many books include Absolutely Angels: Poems for Children and Other Believers and her latest, The Power of Positive Thinking for Teens.
	CHRISTINE FRENCH CLARK Chris is the editor of Highlights for Children, responsible for the magazine in all its formats, including HighlightsKids.com, a subscription-based Web site for kids. Her twenty-plus-year career in children’s publishing includes stints as editor of Humpty Dumpty’s Magazine, Turtle, Jack and Jill, and Children’s Digest. She has also written more than one hundred stories, poems, and lesson segments.
	JOY COWLEY Joy's love for children's literature is "a commitment that borders on obsession." From her ranch on New Zealand's Marlborough Sound, she endeavors to bring "three gifts for the child: achievement, affirmation, and literature" in her early-reading stories. In 1990, New Zealand awarded its Commemorative Medal to Joy for her service to Children's Literature. In 1992, she received the Order of the British Empire, which acknowledges her distinguished service to the arts and sciences. Joy's novels and picture books regularly receive top honors. Countless children know her classic Mrs. Wishy-Washy. Among her most recent titles are The Rusty, Trusty Tractor; Big Moon Tortilla; Agapanthus Hum and the Eyeglasses; Red-Eyed Tree Frog; Starbright and the Dream Eater; Mrs. Goodstory; and Where Horses Run Free. Her book The Silent One received the New Zealand Children's Book of the Year award and has been made into a film shown on the Disney Channel.
	BERNICE E. CULLINAN Bee is a professor emeritus of reading and children’s literature at New York University, and since 1990 she has served as editor in chief of the Wordsong poetry imprint at Boyds Mills Press. Bee has served as president of the International Reading Association and on numerous award committees, including those for the Caldecott Award and the Ezra Jack Keats New Writer Award. In addition, Bee has received many awards and honors of her own. In 1989 she was inducted into the Reading Hall of Fame and received the Arbuthnot Award for Outstanding Teacher of Children’s Literature. She is the 2003 recipient of the NCTE Outstanding Educator in Language Arts award. Bee is the author of the classic text Literature and the Child, as well as many other books, including Read to Me: Raising Kids Who Love to Read.
	ANDREA EARLY Andrea has worked in children’s publishing as an author, editor, and publicist, and is currently a consulting editor for Highlights for Children, where she works on online projects. She is the author of two children’s books and has received the John Burroughs Award for Outstanding Nature Books for Children and two National Science Teachers Awards. She also serves on the Board of Trustees of the Highlights Foundation.
	ROD EBRIGHT Rod has spent his career finding creative solutions to problems. He has given workshops in a variety of venues, helping others develop their creative identity and market their ideas. A graduate of Bowling Green (OH) State University, Rod holds a bachelor's degree in fine arts. He has extensive experience in concept development, design, and marketing in print and other media. He formerly served as Senior Director of creative and production services for Highlights for Children.
	MARGERY FACKLAM As a child, Margery loved science and reading about explorers. After raising five children, she took jobs at a science museum, an aquarium, and a zoo. She also began to write children’s books. Since Margery loves true stories, most of her books are nonfiction. Her research allows her to explore the world, journeying to places like the Galapagos Islands and the Gobi Desert, just like the explorers she read about as a child. Margery has authored 40 books, some of which have been translated into French, Spanish, Italian, Afrikaans, Korean, and Japanese. Many of her books have garnered special recognition, including Bugs for Lunch (Charlesbridge, 2002) an ABA Kids’ Pick of the Lists and Spiders and their Web Sites (Little Brown, 2001), nominated for a Texas Bluebonnet Award. In 1998, Margery received the American Nature Study Society's annual Eva Gordon Award for Excellence in Children's Science Literature. She has two new books scheduled for publication in 2003, Lizards: Weird and Wonderful and Crabs and Other Crusty Creatures, both from Little Brown.
	BERNETTE FORD Bernette was the VP/Editorial Director of Cartwheel Books for the Very Young at Scholastic from 1989 until the summer of 2001, when she became Director of Special Projects. She is starting up a new, as yet unnamed, multicultural imprint, focusing on African-American, Latino (in English), and eventually Asian and Native American books for young children. Bernette began her editorial career at Random House in 1972 and has held executive positions at Golden Books and Grosset & Dunlap/The Putnam Publishing Company. One of only a handful of African-American children’s book editors, she was the first to be named VP/Associate Publisher at a mainstream publishing house. Bernette is co-author of Bright Eyes, Brown Skin and author of The Hunter Who Was King, a Pop-Up Book of African Folk Tales Retold, both illustrated by her husband, George Ford.
	GEORGE FORD JR. George has illustrated more than two dozen books for children and has received numerous awards and honors, including the first Coretta Scott King Award for Illustration for Ray Charles by Sharon Bell Mathis, recently reissued by Lee & Low. George has also been art director at Eden Advertising and the design director of Black Theater Magazine. His most recent titles are The Story of Ruby Bridges by Robert Coles, as well as Hanging Out With Mom by Sonia Black and Martin Luther King, Man of Peace, both in Scholastic’s Hello Reader! Series.
	PATRICIA LEE GAUCH Patti is vice-president and publisher of Philomel Books as well as a respected author in her own right. She holds a doctorate in English literature, and has taught childrens literature on the college level and reviewed for The New York Times. Patti has written thirty-nine books for young readers, among them the highly acclaimed Thunder at Gettysburg. Her most recent title, Tanya and the Red Shoes, part of the celebrated Tanya ballet series, was published in spring 2002.
	JAMES CROSS GIBLIN As both an author and editor, Jim has long been active in the world of children’s books. His award-winning nonfiction titles include The Amazing Life of Benjamin Franklin, The Mystery of the Mammoth Bones, and the latest, The Life and Death of Adolf Hitler. Jim is also a contributing editor at Clarion Books, where he was formerly editor in chief, and is the author of a highly regarded manual for adults, Writing Books for Young People.
	KENNETH GINIGER Kenneth Seeman Giniger has had a career of more than fifty years in publishing as an editor and as a publisher. He has taught publishing courses at New York University and the New School, and has lectured extensively in the United States and abroad. He is the author of ten books and many articles for newspapers and magazines.
	KIM GRISWELL Kim recently joined Highlights as the Coordinating Editor. Her service has spanned the worlds of publishing and teaching, leading her to positions as Senior Editor, Book Development Manager, a university instructor, and a teacher with the Institute of Children’s Literature. A prolific writer and committed editor, Kim has published over two hundred short stories, articles, and columns. Her children’s book, Carnivorous Plants, was just published by Kidhaven Press.
	ANDREW GUTELLE Andrew is a writer, editor, and editorial consultant who has participated in the development of many publishing projects for children. He has written non fiction books for many publishers, including Random House, Putnam, Workman, and Time-Life Books for Children. Andy received five Emmy nominations for his work on the television show Reading Rainbow.
	ROSANNA HANSEN Rosanna is currently president of Hansen Associates, a consulting firm serving book and magazine publishers. Before setting up this business, she served as publisher and editor-in-chief of the Weekly Reader Corporation, supervising seventeen classroom magazines as well as books and e-publishing. In her spare time, she writes children’s books on topics ranging from dinosaurs to ballet. Her most recent title Gorillas: Gentle Creatures of the Rainforest, will be published in the fall of 2003.
	JAY HEALE A noted South African author and editor, Jay was the president of the Hans Christian Andersen Awards Jury for 2000 and 2002 and is the Congress Organizer for the first-ever International Board on Books forYoung People Congress to be held in Cape Town, South Africa in 2004. Currently, he is the secretary of the South African Children's Book Forum.
	STEVEN HERB Steven is Head of the Education and Behavioral Sciences Library and Affiliate Professor of Language and Literacy Education at Penn State. He has a special interest in storytelling and the power stories hold. He is the co-author of the history of Penn State’s school symbol—The Nittany Lion: An Illustrated Tale (with Jackie Esposito) and two children’s literature textbooks—Using Children’s Books in Preschool Settings and Connecting Fathers, Children, and Reading (with Sara Willoughby-Herb). He is a past president of the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), best known for the annual awarding of the Caldecott and Newbery medals for children’s books. Since January 2000, Steven has served as Director of the Pennsylvania Center for the Book. Affiliated with the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress, the center’s mission is to study, honor, celebrate, and promote books, reading, libraries, and literacy to the citizens and residents of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
	DAYTON O. HYDE Dayton is the author of The Major, the Poacher, and the Wonderful One-Trout River, one of the best-loved fishing tales of recent times and winner of the Northwest Book Sellers Award for Literary Excellence. Dayton taught at the Pacific Northwest Writers Conference for more than twenty years and has been a Chautauqua faculty member for the past sixteen years. His newest book is Mr. Beans.
	PETER P. JACOBI Peter is professor emeritus of journalism at Indiana University and a consultant with magazines and corporations, helping CEOs, writers, and editors learn to express their ideas more effectively. His articles have appeared in World Book, The New York Times, Highlights for Children, and others. His two guidebooks, The Magazine Article: How to Think It, Plan It, Write It and Writing with Style: The News Story and the Feature, are standard reference sources for journalists.
	LARRY PRINGLE Larry is a renowned writer with one hundred books to his credit, mostly nonfiction, including One Room School, Naming the Cat, which Kirkus called warmly appealing, and Dog of Discovery: A Newfoundland's Adventures with Lewis and Clark. His most recent releases are Whales! Strange and Wonderful and Bear Hug.
	JEAN REYNOLDS Jean co-founded The Millbrook Press in 1989, where she has been ever since as Executive VP and Publisher. Before that she had been editor-in-chief of young people’s publications at Grolier and prior to that senior vice President /editorial director and a member of the board of Franklin Watts, Inc. She has also held editorial positions at Prentice-Hall and McCalls. A frequent speaker and panelist on various aspects of children’s book publishing, she has served on the boards of the Book Industry Study Group for which she chaired the Juvenile Interest Group, and the Children’s Book Council, which she chaired in 1999. She also chaired the board of directors for the Center for the Book for the state of Connecticut. She is currently the chairperson of the Statistics group for the Children’s Book Council.
	RANDI RIVERS After earning a bachelor's degree in writing, literature, and publishing from Emerson College, Randi Rivers went on to become an associate editor for a magazine publisher based in the Los Angeles area. During this time she also cowrote and performed in the sketch comedy show "The Untitled Boat Show" at the Raven Playhouse in North Hollywood. Randi also put her comedy skills to the test by performing as a clown at children's parties and working part-time as a children's bookseller. While in L. A., she coauthored the play Heart of the Matter, which was later produced by the Dunwoody Stage Door Players in Atlanta, Georgia. Currently an assistant editor for Charlesbridge Publishing, Randi works on four to six books per season. She credits her love of children's books to her parents, who never refused to buy her a book when she was a child.
	MARILETA ROBINSON Marileta made her first sale to Highlights in 1976 and joined Highlights in 1988 as an assistant editor. Currently a senior editor, Marileta edits the international edition of Highlights and writes each month’s installment of the popular "TheTimbertoes" feature. She holds a master’s degree in bilingual education and is a regular speaker at SCBWI conferences around the country.
	LARRY ROSLER Larry is editorial director of Boyds Mills Press, where he has broad responsibilities for acquiring manuscripts and developing them for publication. Before coming to Boyds Mills, Larry was a manager of New Morning Books in New York and worked for Henry Holt and Company, first in marketing and later in editorial on both adult and juvenile titles.
	PAM Muñoz RYAN Pam has written over twenty-five books for young people including the novel, Esperanza Rising (Scholastic Press, 2000), winner of the Pura Belpré Medal honoring Latino writers whose work best portrays, affirms, and celebrates the Latino cultural experience in a children’s book. The acclaimed Amelia and Eleanor Go For A Ride (Scholastic Press, 1999) is an ALA Notable Book, an American Booksellers' Book of the Year Finalist, and an IRA Teachers' Choice book. Her novel Riding Freedom (Scholastic Press, 1998) has garnered many awards including the national Willa Cather Award, and the California Young Reader Medal. Her most recent book from Scholastic, When Marian Sang, was released in October, 2002. Pam was born and raised in Bakersfield, California and received her Bachelor's and Master's Degrees at San Diego State University. She now lives in north San Diego County with her husband and children.
	WILLIAM TAYLOR William spent over 25 years as an educator, first as a primary school teacher, then as a principal. Now, he lives and writes in a beautiful, isolated spot at Raurimu, near Mount Ruapehu in the New Zealand. Though he has written novels for adults, he regards these as the “apprenticeship” he needed to create successful fiction for children and teens. His more than thirty books for young people include Knitwits and Agnes the Sheep (both Booklist Editor’s Choice titles), his most recent novels, Spider (Longacre Press, 2002), and Pebble in a Pool (Alyson Books, 2003), as well as a short story collection, At the Big Red Rooster (Longacre Press, 2000). In 1998 William received the Margaret Mahy Lecture Award and Medal from the New Zealand Children’s Book Foundation. William is currently President of the New Zealand Society of Authors.
	NEIL WALDMAN Neil's paintings and prints are included in prestigious collections around the world. His works have garnered him many honors, including a gold medal from the United Nations. Neil has also designed postage stamps for thirteen nations. He has illustrated nearly 50 books, and is also the writer of many of the most recent books. His books for children have won many awards, including the Washington Irving Award (Bring Back the Deer, The Highwayman), the Parents Choice Award (Nessa's Story), the Christopher Award (The Gold Coin), the National Jewish Book Award (Next Year in Jerusalem). His illustrations and designs have graced the covers of a number of Newbery winners, including Hatchet, The Winter Room, and A Fine White Dust. One of his most recent books, The Promised Land, was published in 2002 by Boyds Mills Press. Neil holds a B.F.A. and an M.S. from Rochester Institute of Technology. He is currently an art instructor for the State University of New York and the Westchester Art Workshop.
	RICH WALLACE Rich is the author of four acclaimed novels for young adults: Playing Without the Ball, Wrestling Sturbridge, Shots on Goal, and Restless. He has also authored a short-story collection called Losing Is Not an Option, and a series of sports novels for middle-grade readers called Winning Season. His columns, profiles, and other features have been published in Highlights, Track and Field News, Runner’s World, and other publications. Rich is a former senior editor at HIGHLIGHTS FOR CHILDREN.
	BEN WHITE As a founding partner and design director of Bender Richardson White, a U.K.-based book packager that produces children’s illustrated nonfiction books for the international coedition market, Ben is responsible for all design and art editing. BRW has created numerous books, including the internationally celebrated Dougal Dixon’s Dinosaurs and the guidebook component of Highlights for Children’s Top Secret Adventure series.
	CLAY WINTERS Clay, president of Boyds Mills Press, has been in publishing since 1960. Before coming to Boyds Mills Press, he was president of Putnam/Grosset Books for Young Readers, the children's book group of G.P. Putnam & Sons. Clay has taught the rudiments of publishing to aspiring writers and an entrepreneurial course in marketing for several different institutions.
	CAROLYN YODER Carolyn is a writer and an editor for the New Jersey Historical Society and senior editor of history for Highlights for Children. From 1983 to 1996 she served as editor in chief and assistant publisher of Cobblestone Publishing, Inc., publishers of nonfiction magazines and books. She also served as the executive director of the New Hampshire Antiquarian Society. Carolyn writes frequently on historical subjects, research, and nonfiction writing.
	PAM ZOLLMAN Pam is widely considered a market expert in writer’s circles. For nearly six years, she has served as the Children’s Magazine Market Guide Coordinator for the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. Pam’s background includes bookselling and teaching creative writing. She is the author of Don’t Bug Be (Holiday House), a juvenile novel, and numerous chapter books designed for classroom use. Her short stories have appeared in a variety of children’s magazines, anthologies, and testing materials. Pam recently became an assistant editor at Highlights for Children.

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