Author Profiles
Ohio has a rich literary heritage as well as some wonderful contemporary authors. Learn more about them here! You can sort by various categories and see who has participated in our annual book festival by using the category search on the left, or search by keyword (including partial author names) by using the search field on the right.
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Julia Kuo
Julia Kuo is the author and illustrator of Let’s Do Everything and Nothing and Luminous: Living Things that Light Up the Night. She is the illustrator of many picture and specialty books including the bestselling book RISE. Julia has created editorial illustrations for publications such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Economist. She has taught at Columbia College Chicago and at her alma mater, Washington University in St. Louis. Learn more at: https://www.juliakuo.com/.
Peter Kurtz
Peter Kurtz was born in New Jersey but raised in Mansfield, Ohio. He obtained a B.S. in Journalism from Ohio University and currently lives in Cincinnati. He’s worked as a jazz disc jockey, freelance writer, and primarily as an engineering technical writer. Kurtz’s books include Bluejackets in the Blubber Room (University of Alabama Press), praised by both maritime and Civil War historians; a trail-hiking memoir, Evergreen Dreaming; and the Nick Montaigne detective mysteries, Black Jackknife and The Shades Dripped Red, the latter of which was inspired by an unsolved true crime in Kurtz’s old neighborhood. His books have earned glowing reviews from Publishers Weekly and Midwest Book Review.
Kurtz enjoys marathon running, backpacking, reading, travel, playing guitar, and enjoying his three granddaughters. He cites his greatest achievements (besides raising a family) as completing a thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail, and reading all of Herman Melville’s sea books several times over. Learn more at: https://peterkurtz.wordpress.com
Stephen Kuusisto
Stephen Kuusisto is the author of the memoirs Have Dog, Will Travel; Planet of the Blind (a New York Times “Notable Book of the Year”); and Eavesdropping: A Memoir of Blindness and Listening and of the poetry collections Only Bread, Only Light and Letters to Borges. A graduate of the Iowa Writer’s Workshop and a Fulbright Scholar, he has taught at the University of Iowa, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, and Ohio State University. He currently teaches at Syracuse University where he holds a professorship in the Center on Human Policy, Law, and Disability Studies. He is a frequent speaker in the US and abroad. His website is StephenKuusisto.com.
Dave Lange
Dave Lange is a 1975 graduate of Kent State University with a bachelor of arts in journalism news. He also studied political science in graduate school at the University of Akron.
His 40-year newspaper career included positions as features editor and then Sunday Paper editor for the daily Lake County Telegraph, editor of the daily Geauga Times Leader and editor in chief of the weekly Greater Cleveland Real Estate News.
For most of his career, Lange was editor of the weekly Chagrin Valley Times and its sister publications, the Solon Times and the Geauga Times Courier. The Times was honored with the Ohio Newspaper Association’s General Excellence Award as the state’s best weekly newspaper 19 times during his 25 years of leadership. Individually, the ONA awarded him first place in editorial writing 15 times and first place in column writing eight times.
Lange was named the best columnist among all Ohio newspapers in 2011 by the Cleveland Press Club and has received numerous Ohio Excellence in Journalism Awards for editorial and column writing. He also was awarded first place statewide for column writing in 2000 by the Society of Professional Journalists.
Lange served in a support capacity with the Brown Water Navy’s riverine forces in Vietnam from February 1969 to February 1970. As a member of Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron 11 from February 1970 until his discharge in December 1971, he made Mediterranean Sea and North Atlantic deployments. He was awarded the Vietnam Service Medal with four campaign stars, Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal, National Defense Service Medal plus Navy Unit Commendation and Meritorious Unit Commendation ribbons.
He is a member of Vietnam Veterans of America, Veterans of Foreign Wars and American Legion.
Lynn Lauber
Lynn Lauber is an author, editor, ghostwriter, and memoir teacher. She has published three books with WW Norton: White Girls, 21 Sugar Street, and Listen to Me: Writing Life into Meaning, as well as a dozen collaborations with expert authors. Her first two books with Norton center on growing up in northwestern Ohio in the 1960s. Her essays have appeared in The New York Times, including Modern Love and Bookend. She has worked as an audiobook editor and abridger for Random House Audiobooks and is a long-time teacher of memoir writing at UCLA online. She now lives in Nyack, New York.
Tracy Lawson
Tracy Lawson’s passion for storytelling led her first into the world of dance and educational theater, and enjoyed a career as a dance teacher, studio owner, and choreographer that has spanned nearly three decades. A mid-life career change has yielded six books–a four-volume series of thrillers for young adults, and two nonfiction history books based on the lives of her pioneer ancestors. Tracy’s two newest novels are in the pipeline for release in 2020 and 2021. While her body of work may seem varied, the common thread that connects all her books is her characters’ pursuit of individual liberty. Tracy, who is married with one grown daughter and two spoiled cats, splits her time between Dallas, Texas and Columbus, Ohio.
@TracySLawson on Twitter
Tracy Lawson, Author on Facebook
Laurie Lazzaro Knowlton
Laurie Lazzaro Knowlton’s first published work was a note passed to a boy in third grade. You would have thought this most embarrassing moment would have ended her writing career. But instead, Laurie has gone on to write 45 books and is the author/illustrator of two. Laurie has been published in the trade, educational, craft, and Christian markets. WHY COWBOYS SLEEP WITH THEIR BOOTS ON is her bestselling picture book. It won the Premier Print Award given by Eastman Kodak and has sold over 45,000 copies since publication. Laurie wrote and illustrated GOD BE IN MY HEART in 1999, and RED, WHITE, AND BLUE in 2002. The Huebner Museum of Children’s Picture Book Art, housed in the Toledo Public Library, honored Laurie by purchasing and exhibiting a piece of art from RED, WHITE, AND BLUE. Martha Stewart’s Radio Station highlighted RED WHITE AND BLUE, and The Children’s Book Council invited Laurie to write about America’s freedoms as related to the book for their premier online magazine. The Children’s Book Committee of Bank Street College of Education selected A YOUNG MAN’S DANCE as among the best Children’s Books of the year in 2007. Laurie is an international speaker, addressing students, educators, and writers throughout the United States and Mexico. You can reach her at lauriepknowlton@aim.com.
Elisa Stone Leahy
Elisa Stone Leahy is a queer, Peruvian American children’s author who lives with her husband and kids in Columbus, Ohio. She likes writing about characters with complicated identities. She is the author of Mallory in Full Color and Tethered to Other Stars, which Kirkus Reviews called “beautifully executed.” You can find Elisa online at elisastoneleahy.com
Patrick Leber
Patrick Leber is a business professional who found a passion for running at an early age. His running memoir captures the many amusing, engaging, and embarrassing running stories encountered over 40 years. His stories will resonate with anyone who likes to laugh at themselves. A Northeast Ohio native, he is a lover of music, books, and conversation. You can visit him online at http://www.whyrunwhen.com.
Florenza Lee
Florenza Lee is an author, publisher, mindset coach, transformational speaker, radio talk show host, Master Storyteller, wife, and mother. Her Children’s books focus on Social-Emotional Learning and Emotional Intelligence. The tagline for her publishing company is, “…feeding your mind one book at a time” and her books fulfills the mission. Her dynamic characters immediately capture the readers’ attention, and the lessons remain long after the book is closed. Florenza is a proud member of SCBWI, AALBC, IBPA, REACH, Inc., and an Alum of Ashford University; she attends Grand Canyon University. Several of her titles are translated for Spanish, Polish, Ukrainian, Russian, Arabic, Hindi, and Mandarin. Coming soon are German, French, and Italian. She and her husband, CSM (Ret US Army) Trefus Lee, have been married for nearly 39 years and reside in Chagrin Falls, Ohio. Their daughters, Jessica and Missy, call Las Vegas, Nevada, and Chagrin Falls, Ohio, home. Learn more at her website: https://florenza.org/