Why I Write Diverse Books
As soon as I was born, my mother applied for my tribal enrollment from the Cherokee Nation. She shared her pride at the heritage of her paternal ancestors. I can trace my Cherokee roots back to Elizabeth Coody (Eughioote), a full-blood of the Long Hair Clan born in 1706. I have always felt connected to this branch of my family. I read the tribal newspaper, THE CHEROKEE PHOENIX, and vote in tribal elections. I am active in my local Cherokee Nation chapter, Mt. Hood Cherokees and have served on its Council.
I grew up in Tucson, Arizona, a city blessed with an ancient and rich Mexican history before 1853’s Gadsen Purchase made it “American.” As a child, my mother taught me to appreciate the Pima and Papago tribes (now called Tohono O’odham) and our Yaqui neighbors as well as those of Mexican descent. I visited Mesa Verde, Walnut Canyon, numerous other ancient Anazazi dwellings, the Hopi and Navajo reservations. So I was given an awareness and appreciation of many languages and cultures.
While in seminary to become a United Methodist minister, I focused on liberation theology. For one semester in Peru, I studied with Gustavo Guttiérez’s associates and traveled around the country to pueblos jovenes, where the poorest of the poor lived, meeting with residents, priests and volunteers who worked to improve living conditions. In 1979, I attended the Third General Conference of the Latin American Bishops in Puebla, Mexico as part of a delegation of women asking for full inclusion in the Roman Catholic Church. These opportunities gave me opportunity to meet and hear the concerns of a wide variety of people.
I spent my earliest professional years as a United Methodist minister in the Los Angeles area, where I served in a community with a large Hispanic population. My congregation included people from Mexico, many Central American countries, the Pacific Islands, and working class Anglo families. I loved the mix of people.
As a minister, I led five youth work teams to Native American reservations: Hopi, Navajo, and Clear Creek Rancheria (Eastern Pomo) with Sierra Service Project. In 1993, I spearheaded a team to Cuba to reroof a church and paint a school in Punta Brava outside of La Habana. I have remained friends with some of the young Cubans we worked with in spite of the difficulties the Cuban embargo placed upon communication. In 2001, I returned to Cuba to study Spanish for a few weeks at La Universidad de La Habana.
Since 1975, I’ve been a member of SERVAS, an international peacemaking travel group that has given me the opportunity to host travelers from other countries and stay in people’s homes around the world. In my travels to 44 countries, I have been privileged to know people of numerous nations, languages and cultures.
My published picture books are about a Russian Immigrant family in New York’s Lower East Side in the 1940s, an enslaved child forced to march on the Trail of Tears with her Cherokee “owner,” and a young Hispanic boy and his abuelita who share memories and love as they decorate their Christmas tree and cook a special meal together. My works-in-progress deal with people whose stories are less-often told. I love to find and expand on nuggets of real-life history. Some of my picture books could be about children of any color or ethnicity, and I would love to see them illustrated in whatever setting/culture the illustrator imagines.
I am committed to writing books in which a variety of children can see themselves, either because of universal themes or multicultural settings and experiences. I hope that today's readers can, like me, grow up to appreciate the many ways people are alike...and not alike, realizing that our world is stronger when we celebrate diversity and all work together.
As soon as I was born, my mother applied for my tribal enrollment from the Cherokee Nation. She shared her pride at the heritage of her paternal ancestors. I can trace my Cherokee roots back to Elizabeth Coody (Eughioote), a full-blood of the Long Hair Clan born in 1706. I have always felt connected to this branch of my family. I read the tribal newspaper, THE CHEROKEE PHOENIX, and vote in tribal elections. I am active in my local Cherokee Nation chapter, Mt. Hood Cherokees and have served on its Council.
I grew up in Tucson, Arizona, a city blessed with an ancient and rich Mexican history before 1853’s Gadsen Purchase made it “American.” As a child, my mother taught me to appreciate the Pima and Papago tribes (now called Tohono O’odham) and our Yaqui neighbors as well as those of Mexican descent. I visited Mesa Verde, Walnut Canyon, numerous other ancient Anazazi dwellings, the Hopi and Navajo reservations. So I was given an awareness and appreciation of many languages and cultures.
While in seminary to become a United Methodist minister, I focused on liberation theology. For one semester in Peru, I studied with Gustavo Guttiérez’s associates and traveled around the country to pueblos jovenes, where the poorest of the poor lived, meeting with residents, priests and volunteers who worked to improve living conditions. In 1979, I attended the Third General Conference of the Latin American Bishops in Puebla, Mexico as part of a delegation of women asking for full inclusion in the Roman Catholic Church. These opportunities gave me opportunity to meet and hear the concerns of a wide variety of people.
I spent my earliest professional years as a United Methodist minister in the Los Angeles area, where I served in a community with a large Hispanic population. My congregation included people from Mexico, many Central American countries, the Pacific Islands, and working class Anglo families. I loved the mix of people.
As a minister, I led five youth work teams to Native American reservations: Hopi, Navajo, and Clear Creek Rancheria (Eastern Pomo) with Sierra Service Project. In 1993, I spearheaded a team to Cuba to reroof a church and paint a school in Punta Brava outside of La Habana. I have remained friends with some of the young Cubans we worked with in spite of the difficulties the Cuban embargo placed upon communication. In 2001, I returned to Cuba to study Spanish for a few weeks at La Universidad de La Habana.
Since 1975, I’ve been a member of SERVAS, an international peacemaking travel group that has given me the opportunity to host travelers from other countries and stay in people’s homes around the world. In my travels to 44 countries, I have been privileged to know people of numerous nations, languages and cultures.
My published picture books are about a Russian Immigrant family in New York’s Lower East Side in the 1940s, an enslaved child forced to march on the Trail of Tears with her Cherokee “owner,” and a young Hispanic boy and his abuelita who share memories and love as they decorate their Christmas tree and cook a special meal together. My works-in-progress deal with people whose stories are less-often told. I love to find and expand on nuggets of real-life history. Some of my picture books could be about children of any color or ethnicity, and I would love to see them illustrated in whatever setting/culture the illustrator imagines.
I am committed to writing books in which a variety of children can see themselves, either because of universal themes or multicultural settings and experiences. I hope that today's readers can, like me, grow up to appreciate the many ways people are alike...and not alike, realizing that our world is stronger when we celebrate diversity and all work together.