Sutcliffe, Jane 1957-

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SUTCLIFFE, Jane 1957-

PERSONAL: Born May 25, 1957, in Providence, RI; daughter of Chester and Clarice (Bergeron) McCormick; married Skip Sutcliffe, (an engineer) May 30, 1981; children: John, Michael. Education: University of Connecticut, B.A., 1979; Pennsylvania State University, M.S., 1980. Religion: Episcopal.

ADDRESSES: Home—128 Eaton Rd., Tolland, CT 06084. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Author.

MEMBER: Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators.

AWARDS, HONORS: Patriotic Feature of the Year, Highlights for Children, for article "The Tree That Saved History."

WRITINGS:

Babe Didrikson Zaharias, All-around Athlete, Carolrhoda Books (Minneapolis, MN), 2000.

Jesse Owens, Carolrhoda Books (Minneapolis, MN), 2000.

Paul Revere, Lerner Books (Minneapolis, MN), 2002.

Amelia Earhart, Lerner Books (Minneapolis, MN), 2002.

Helen Keller, Carolrhoda Books (Minneapolis, MN), 2002.

Milton Hershey, Lerner Books (Minneapolis, MN), 2003.

Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce, Lerner Books (Minneapolis, MN), 2003.

Contributor of articles to various periodicals, including Appleseeds, Boys' Life, and Highlights for Children.

WORK IN PROGRESS: Picture book biographies of Sacagawea, St. Paul, and Tom Thumb; an early reader biography of John F. Kennedy.

SIDELIGHTS: Jane Sutcliffe told CA: "I grew up in Providence, Rhode Island, in the days when library fines were a penny. One of my earliest memories was my weekly trip to the local library with my father. I've loved books ever since. My childhood was fairly average. In fact, it was so average, all my friends had pretty much the same childhood. We all went to the same school, and attended the same church on Sundays. Our mothers all called us home to supper at the same time. On weekends we visited grandmothers and aunties who spoke a different language when they didn't want us to understand.

"To live any differently seemed exciting and exotic to me. I began to read biographies, just to get a peek at how other people lived day to day, in different times and places. When I was ten or eleven, I spent a whole year reading nothing but biographies. I was never interested in sports much, with one exception—the Olympics. Everything about the Olympics appealed to me—the competition, the glory, the pageantry, the honor. So I guess it was no accident that, years later, when I became a children's writer, my first two books were biographies of Olympic athletes. I was doing my research even then."

Sutcliffe went on to say that although she was interested in writing and even went to college and obtained a communications degree, she did not begin writing until after she had her two sons, John and Michael. "Having children just unlocked my creative spirit. That's why I dedicated my first book to them."