Jo Ellen OliverJo Ellen Oliver was a teacher and counselor for more than 30 years. She began writing at age 16 when she won a college scholarship from The Atlantic Monthly magazine for her account of the Texas City Disaster in 1947. She lived through the disaster ad wrote about it later. Because of her scholarship, she attended the University of Pittsburgh but graduated from the University of Texas in her home state. She later earned a master's and doctorate from Auburn University and the University of Georgia. Jo Ellen and her late husband, John, had two sons and a daughter. One son is no longer living but the second son, David, lives with his family in Atlanta. Her daughter, Julie, a mother of four, lives in Portland, Oregon. Oliver also has 10 grandchildren and 2 great-grandchildren. Oliver has published two previous books: Then and Now and The Man Under the Bridge. Read More Read Less