George Ella Lyon April 25,

George Ella Lyon Born and raised in Harlan, KY. Her parents were Robert Vernon, Jr. (a saving and loan vice president) and Gladys (a secretary and community worker).

George Ella Lyon “I grew up outside a small coal town in the mountains of eastern Kentucky (born of mountain parents, with all four of my grandparents living there, too).”

George Ella Lyon The importance of family was emphasized at an early age to Ms. Lyons. “Family loomed large as the mountains for me.” All her family members loved to tell stories.

George Ella Lyon “I was born of poor vision and a good ear into a southern mountain family and culture rich in stories. Early on I wanted to be a neon sign maker and I still hope to make words that glow.” She also dreamed of being a tightrope walker.

George Ella Lyon While in the second grade, Ms. Lyon’s teacher noticed her skills as a writer and encouraged her to continue her writing. She wrote her first poem in the second grade.

George Ella Lyon Education: Education: - Centre College, B.A. (English) Univ. of Arkansas, M.A. (English) Indiana University, Ph.D. (English, Creative Writing) 1978 Career: - Univ. of Kentucky Transylvania Univ – 84 - Centre College 1979 – 80 - Radford Univ. 1986

George Ella Lyon Ms. Lyon’s first book came out in It was titled Mountain, a collection of poems about Appalachian people. The book gave her the description as a local color writer for the Appalachian region.

George Ella Lyon After reading Mountain, a publisher encouraged her to try her hand at a new genre of literature, children’s books. Her first children’s book was titled Father Time.

George Ella Lyon Her next book, a novel called Borrowed Children, was published in The story takes place in Goose Creek (Clay County), KY and Memphis, TN.

George Ella Lyon Lyon's literature is frequently set in poor southern communities.

George Ella Lyon Today Ms. Lyon lives in Lexington, KY and is a free lance writer for the University of Kentucky. “One of the questions kids ask me when I visit schools is: ‘Are you rich?’ Yes, I say, but not the way you think. I’m rich because I get to do what I love to do and find readers who see themselves in it.”

Where I’m From (s1) I am from clothespins, from Clorox and carbon-tetrachloride. I am from the dirt under the back porch. (Black, glistening, it tasted like beets.) I am from the forsythia bush the Dutch elm whose long-gone limbs I remember as if they were my own.

Where I’m From (s2) I'm from fudge and eyeglasses, from Imogene and Alafair. I'm from the know-it-alls and the pass-it-ons, from Perk up! and Pipe down! I'm from He restoreth my soul with a cottontail lamb and ten verses I can say myself.

Where I’m From (s3) I'm from Artemus and Billie's Branch, fried corn and strong coffee. From the finger my grandfather lost to the auger, the eye my father shut to keep his sight.

Where I’m From (s4) Under my bed was a dress box spilling old pictures, a sift of lost faces to drift beneath my dreams. I am from those moments-- snapped before I budded -- leaf-fall from the family tree.