Donna Rhodes

Donna Rhodes spent 26 years teaching English Language Arts in public schools where she challenged teenagers to find their passion, or to let their passion find them. She has also served as a pastor’s wife, taught adult Bible studies and private piano lessons, and through it all she collected the life stories of the people she met.

Donna has always believed that the most extraordinary lives often belong to people the world calls ordinary. When she met Richard Aguilera Ruiz, she found the story she had wanted to write since high school. The result is Creating Futures: The Life of Richard Aguilera Ruiz, the true story of a man from a hardworking Hispanic family whose passion for the underdog created new futures for people who had little or no hope. Readers describe it as a biography that reads like a novel.

Donna is now retired from teaching and lives in Kansas. She loves meeting readers and book clubs over Zoom. Signed hardcover copies, book club chats and signings are available.