About Doris...

     I’ve wanted to be a writer ever since I received my first “grown-up” ballpoint pen for Christmas.  I was nine years old.  As if a light went on in my heart, I began jotting down poems, stories and songs like nobody’s business. The rest of the world never saw them. But it was a start.    

     My first real writing job—where people actually read what I’d composed—was at our weekly newspaper. I’m not sure if the editor was an incredible optimist or merely in desperate need of a new reporter. But whatever her motives she threw me into the “fire” without so much as a day’s training, though it worked out okay. I attended town meetings then wrote them up for the next edition. More to my liking, I also put together human interest articles on deserving local residents and town happenings.

     Once, while I was interviewing the mayor on the scene of a huge project—installing new sidewalks up and down the main street—a lady traipsed through the just-poured cement up right behind us. She got stuck up to her knees and had to be pulled out, though her sunken shoes chose to stay where they were.   

     I went on to become a freelance feature writer for newspapers and magazines. I learned from the Sheriff himself about running the county jail. And Dr. Heimlich told me how he created his famous maneuver. One of my favorites, though, was a story that took me sailing through the skies over New York and New Jersey in that lighter-than-air dirigible called the Goodyear blimp. How cool is that?

     But through it all, I wrote stories for kids. It’s what I like to do best.

     Many of my stories have been used in reading programs, like the ones shown on my Books page. The six new Leveled Readers teach kids about fun stuff, like beetles, pizza, food surprises and aliens in the waters.

     I’m happy to announce that my latest book for kids, Rowing To The Rescue: The Story Of Ida Lewis, Famous Lighthouse Heroine, has just been released. Though I do love my computer, I wrote much of this with a nice new pen.