Vivian Owens, Author

Vivian Owens wrote the book, NADANDA THE WORDMAKER, and it won a Writer's Digest Best Book Award. In order to provide helpers for parents and other child caregivers, Vivian wrote Parenting For Education and Create A Math Environment, books selected as Resources in Education. She also developed a radio program for parents prior to the books. Having taught Junior High Math with success in bringing students up to grade level, Vivian taught Chemistry, Physics, and Math in the private school system and public school system of Virginia. Leading her Chemistry students to a 100% success rate on the Virginia Standards of Learning Test for Chemistry, Vivian was invited to speak at the Best Practices Conference (Virginia). Over the years, Vivian appeared as the guest of the Virginia Festival of the Book, the American Association of University Women's Author's Brunch, and the Authors Pavilion of the Congressional Black Caucus, to name a few.

With a writing career that overlapped her career as an educator, Vivian Owens received numerous awards or recognitions. Her newspaper articles have appeared in over 200 newspapers across the country, and her magazine articles have appeared in such publications as Upscale Magazine, About.Time Magazine, The Virginia Science Journal, and The Gifted Press Newsletter.

Best known for her "Parenting For Education" articles and workshops, Vivian Owens is the mother of three academically gifted children. In her work, she shares strategies of teaching and learning that have worked from her own personal experiences as a parent and as a classroom teacher who has obtained high performance results. At the heart of all her work is a determination to motivate children toward higher goals. For that reason she also creates youth literature that shines new cultural light into the whole realm of Children's Literature.

Vivian Owens is the author of nine books.

Tarnie Tarry, Author

Tarnie Tarry’s first and only book was published during her 89th year. She died at age of 104 years old, during the spring of 2008.

As a child growing up in rural Nelson County, Virginia, Tarnie rode horseback for enjoyment as her brothers taught her to fly through the air. She spent her career days as a teacher and as a librarian. Her book of poetry, A Woman’s Life, speaks to people from the core of the human spirit. While earthy in its blend of wit and wisdom, the book embraces religious themes with the heart of a woman who trusted in God all her life

From the moment she first answered her mother in rhyme, her poetry writing developed into a lifelong habit. Verses popped into her mind while working or playing, bringing with them a demand that would last a lifetime.

Until late in life, mid 90s, she drove her blue Chevrolet around town daily on business or errands. On Sundays, she could be seen at Shiloh Baptist Church sitting next to friends she had known for the past 70 years. Her former students, some in their 80’s, visited Mrs. Tarry regularly until her death. During baseball season, she could be found watching the Atlanta Braves on television.