Leona Palmer

 

                                Reading and writing have always been an important part of my life. My favorite books as a child were: 

                                Jenny Wren’s New House by Kay Patton, Mrs. Piggle Wiggle by Betty MacDonald, and The Story of

                                Pocahantas by Shirley Graham DuBois.  I still have these books on my bookshelf. Over the years I have

                                added many more favorites.

 

     I was born and grew up in the St. Louis suburbs. When I was little I loved to pretend. One of the things I played was

newspaper reporter with my sister.  That was when I began writing. We would go to places around the house and gather

news like a reporter. The porch was the ‘police station’; the gigantic tree was the ‘hospital’; my dad’s garden was the

‘farm’ (we always included a farm report), the big meadow was the baseball field (for the sports section of the paper) etc.

Then we would go into the house and write the made-up news.  We would even pull out paints and use plastic letters

dipped into the paint to make the headlines.                                                                                                                                                                        

                                                                                                                                                                                                                   "Do you like my

                                                                                                                                                                                                                     cowboy hat?"

 

     As a teenager I kept a diary. I wrote about my family, especially about my three sisters and one brother, my friends,

and the boys I dated. All my private thoughts, feelings and the things I did were in that diary.

                                                                                                                          .

     I went to college in St. Louis where I studied to be an elementary school teacher.  I taught school in the St. Louis area.

After I married I continued teaching in New Mexico. I took a few years off to be home with my three daughters. When they

were all in school I went back to school, too – as a reading teacher working part-time. We lived in New Hampshire at that

time. I taught students from Kindergarten to grade 8 for many years. I also lived in Texas and Colorado. Now I live in Arizona

and summer in Massachusetts.

 

     I enjoyed my role as a teacher and a Mom.  I was a Brownie and Girl Scout leader for each of my three daughters, and an

advisor for the drug-free organization of which they were each a member. Now my daughters are grown and married, and I

have grandchildren.                                                                                                                                                                                

                                                                                                                                                                                                                   Halloween costume

                                                                                                                               

      I have also been a guest and hostess of “Radio-Read Aloud”, a judge for the local library summer reading/writing program,

contributing editor of Cooking on Cue cookbook, and presenter of workshops for parents, teachers, reading specialists, and the

NH State Department of Education/Reading First. I published in the American Teacher and also Parent Patrol newsletters for

parents of early readers.

 

            I still read every day, mostly at night just before I go to sleep. Many times I fall asleep with the bedside lamp on and

the book opened on top of me. I always have stories in my mind, and many written down. One of my favorite things to do is

to write new stories or editstories that I’m in the process of writing. 

 

 

 

More Favorites:

 

     As a child I pretended many things besides newspaper reporter. I pretended nurse, cowgirl, farm and house. I even made

a leaf house in the autumn and filled it with my kitchen set and dolls.

 

 

I also enjoyed time with my grandparents who were all farmers –

 

  

   My mom’s parents had a dairy farm and we lived on the same property as the dairy. My dad worked for the dairy as a milk delivery man. I would

go every day during the summer and watch my uncle make ice cream (until he asked if I would like a taste) then I would take my Dixie cup out under

Grandma’s mulberry tree and eat my flavor-of-the-day treat.  Sometimes in the evenings I visited Grandma and caught lightning bugs. I called it

“my stars in a jar.”

     My dad’s parents had a farm with many animals and fields of crops. I especially liked the pasture, the hayloft, and rides on the tractor. Every time

I visited my grandma would give me a nickel. On that farm is where I had a ‘walking stick’ fall from a tree and walk on my arm.

 

Favorite things to:

 

See – Smiles

               Blue sky on a sunny day with butterflies fluttering

 

Hear -- Children’s laughter

                    Someone call my name

 

Smell -- Baking cookies

                     Crayons     

 

Feel -- Hugs

                 Sun on my shoulders

 

Taste -- Chocolate

                   Chili Relleno

 

Other favorites:

 

  Color:  Yellow (for sunshine) 

 

  Pets:     had a dog named Cujo (she was a buff-colored cockapoo)

                  now I have a wooden giraffe and a stained glass butterfly

 

  Hobbies:    reading, writing, crafts, jigsaw puzzles, bicycling,

                            and collecting autographed children's books

   

     

  Books:   I have too many to list them all and I’m adding more all the time