Jean Stone

http://www.jeanstone.com

I never wanted to be anything but a writer. As a kid, while my older sister was burrowed under the covers reading Nancy Drew by flashlight, I was across the room, burrowed under my own blankets, making up stories. Once I carved a poem on the back of a Ouija board. My mother was not amused.

We had an ordinary life in West Springfield, MA. I had a grandfather who was an engineer on the railroad—resulting in my lifelong love of trains—and a grandmother who smelled of lavender. I had an uncle who smoked cigars and another who had big tattoos and another who wrote the date he bought shoes on the outside of the shoebox. I had an aunt who made awesome chocolate cake and spaghetti and meatballs and another who, when I was sick, arrived with a bag filled with goodies like coloring books and paper dolls and paper chains to cut out.

Every autumn my mother made baked beans in our garage for the church tent at the Eastern States Exposition—now known as the Big E, New England's Great State Fair. It was also in the fall that my father and I had our special routine of going out for walks after dinner and looking in living room windows of people who'd turned on their lights but had not yet pulled their drapes. I made up stories about their lives and he patiently, patiently listened.

Life in a small town had its moments of fun. Somehow, I managed to grow up. I did not, however, complete my bachelor's degree until age 49, when I graduated from Skidmore in Saratoga Springs, New York. It was a very exciting day—my cousin, Linda was there, and my friend, Carol and my friend, Cindy who'd come all the way from Florida. Even my sister and her husband drove out from Maine. And Kathy—from my brief University of Pittsburgh days—was there. Someday I'll get my Master's. In between books eleven and fifteen, maybe!

My "bio" wouldn't be complete without mention of the advertising agency I owned for fifteen years before writing full time. It was through the business that I met a most influential person in my life—Olympic gold medal gymnast and current NBC gymnastics commentator, Tim Daggett.

I hired Tim to speak at the annual meeting of one of my clients; I mentioned I would love to write his book if he ever wanted to do one. The result was Dare to Dream—a wonderful autobiography that I co-authored with this incredibly motivated guy. Thanks, Tim, for passing some of that spirit on to me.

And thanks to all my family and friends for being so supportive (and for putting up with me), and to Miss Carroll—my small town, ninth grade English teacher—who told me to Write, Write, Write and never stop.

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