Schott, Jane A. 1946–

views updated

Schott, Jane A. 1946–

Personal

Born November 15, 1946, in Westerville, OH; daughter of Karl H. (a businessman) and Maryanne (a homemaker) Schott. Ethnicity: "Caucasian." Education: Capital University, B.S., 1968; Otterhein College, M.A., 1996. Politics: Republican. Religion: Lutheran.

Addresses

Home—228 N. Sunbury Rd., Westerville, OH 43081. Office—SRA/McGraw-Hill, 8787 Orion Pl. Columbus, OH 43240.

Career

Educator, editor, and writer. Elementary school teacher, 1968–76; self-employed florist, 1977–86; SRA/McGraw-Hill, Columbus, OH, executive editor, 1986–; freelance writer.

Writings

JUVENILE NONFICTION

Will Rogers ("On My Own" series), illustrated by David Charles Brandon, Carolrhoda Books (Minneapolis, MN), 1996.

Children of a New Century ("Picture the American Past" series), Carolrhoda Books (Minneapolis, MN), 1999.

Dian Fossey and the Mountain Gorillas ("On My Own" series), illustrated by Ralph L. Ramstad, Carolrhoda Books (Minneapolis, MN), 2000.

Abraham Lincoln ("History Maker" series), Lerner Publications (Minneapolis, MN), 2002.

Sidelights

Beginning her career as an elementary school teacher, Jane A. Schott ran her own florist business for almost a decade before returning to education, this time as an executive editor for an educational publisher. Schott draws on her knowledge of young people, as well on as her personal curiosity and her talent for writing, in the nonfiction titles she has penned for younger students. In addition to several titles in the "On My Own" biography series, Schott has also written a biography of U.S. Civil War president Abraham Lincoln as well as a book describing the everyday lives of American children at the turn of the twentieth century, the latter titled Children of a New Century.

Schott's contributions to the "On My Own" series include Dian Fossey and the Mountain Gorillas and Will Rogers. The books depict how each of her subjects—Fossey studied gorillas in Africa, while Rogers was a comedian who, with his down-to-earth humor and talent with a lariat, was beloved by Americans at the turn of the twentieth century—achieved their legendary fame and draw on particularly memorable instances to give young readers a personal look into their lives. Schott's text, with its story-based format, nonetheless contains many factual details, and she accompanies each text with a chronology of the major events that took place through the featured individual's life.

Schott told SATA: "The books I have written are about the people and events of the past because I want children to know and understand the people who came before them. The people of the past helped shape the world we live in today just as today's children will shape the world for the people who come after them."