Jay A. Parry

In first grade--true story--I was the best speller of the word THE in the entire class. Thus began my love for words.

My love for writing blossomed when I was in a tiny high school in Melba, Idaho. I wrote a hundred or two hundred poems during that period. No amount of money will get me to show them to you. (Well, I guess you could make me an offer.)

Early on I won an award for a very odd and very short story. That got me hooked. A couple of years later, I wrote the campaign speeches for many of those running for student body offices--including some who were running against each other. I don't recall who won, but clearly my speeches made the difference!

In the decades that followed, I have written, coauthored, or compiled three dozen books. These books have ranged in subject matter from American history to child rearing to trivia to biblical scholarship. A few have been written for children. One book was a historical novel and another was a series of short, fanciful stories. My nonfiction efforts have been eclectic and wide ranging. The one common denominator: a desire to elucidate and explain, to synthesize and to share. Some of my books (The Santa Claus Book, under a pseudonym, and The Real George Washington) stayed in print for decades and sold well over 100,000 copies each. Others (more's the pity) have not done as well. But every one has been a labor of love and a delight to devote a part of my life to.

When I have not been writing, I've worked as a professional editor and researcher. When I go home, I get to be a family man. My wife and I had a household of exceptional, rambunctious children that eventually turned into a household of visiting exceptional, rambunctious grandchildren.

Truly life is a splendid adventure.