Growing Up Toppsie

This is about the saga of a woman born into poverty during the Great Depression, her trials and tribulations during her growing up years, her early marriage, and her struggles in raising four children. After twenty years, she finally divorced her tyrannical husband and moved to the city of her birth. After her children were grown, she enrolled at the University of Minnesota to earn a degree, working days and studying evenings.

She successfully became a graphic designer and worked for a publishing house where she met her soul mate. They moved to San Diego, where they were married. Working together, they became successful publishers of educational materials called Whole Language, changing the way children learn to read.

After seventeen years, that marriage ended in divorce, and she finally found time to once again devote time to her art, both painting and sculpting, before settling down to write twenty-one children's books. She surrounds herself with friends and family, has been on several boards, and is making substantial donations to her first love—the arts!