Joan Lowery

Biography

Joan Lowery Nixon was first published when she was just ten. A poem she wrote appeared in a children's magazine. She sold her first article to a magazine when she was seventeen. Joan majored in journalism at the University of Southern California at Los Angeles.

There were few jobs for journalists at this time, so she found another way to make a living at the other thing she loved to do. She took a temporary job teaching kindergarten and first grade in the Los Angeles city schools. Joan enjoyed teaching so much she went to night school and took the courses I'd need for my credentials.

In 1964 Joan's first book was published. She has won lots of awards for her books. Among some of them are four Edgars from the Mystery Writers of America, two Spurs from Western Writers of America, and eighteen awards from various states that invite kids to vote for their favorite books.

In 1994 Joans 100th book was published. That was a great accomplishment for a temporary schoolteacher.

Joan is married and has four children, When the children were young she had only one day a week to herself for writing. She discovered that you never find time to write. You have to make time.