W E L C O M E !
Short Bio: Starting out as a journalist, Sally wrote features for magazines and the Associated Press. Currently she writes books for all ages. Several are award-winners and one was a New York Times bestseller. She is working on a biography for adults and young adults about American tennis legend Maureen (Little Mo) Connolly, the first woman to win a Grand Slam in a calendar year.
Longer Bio: Deep in the Blue Ridge Mountains--at Crystal Springs Elementary School in Roanoke, Virginia Sally became an avid reader, writer and adventurer. Her second grade teacher, Mrs. Smith, a wordsmith, (pun intended) was one of Sally’s biggest cheerleaders. One day Sally told her teacher that her dream was to become a writer. "Good readers make good writers," Mrs. Smith replied and handed Sally a journal. "There's a story everywhere you turn."
Her teacher’s words gave Sally permission, in a sense, to explore and observe her neighborhood with her dog, siblings and friends. At bedtime Sally chronicled these exploits in the journal that she then kept hidden under her pillow. Her parents rarely told her to turn off the light. Little did they know that she was often writing about them, too! Sally thanks Mrs. Smith and her parents for regularly encouraging and motivating a passionate little girl.
Sally in the second grade. Nice haircut, huh?!
Some of Sally’s favorite books were—and still are—Harry the Dirty Dog, Curious George, Harriet the Spy and Stuart Little, stories about inquisitiveness and adventure.
After studying with author/illustrator Tomie dePaola at Colby-Sawyer College and then graduating from Skidmore College, Sally moved to New York City. She wrote for national magazines, eventually landing a column at the Associated Press called Kids. She interviewed some notable people (Meryl Streep, former President Jimmy Carter and Rosalyn Carter, Little Richard and Merle Haggard among others) and those who simply had compelling stories (an advocate for Hmong urban gardeners and an environmentalist who composted with worms in his New York City apartment.)
Journalism was fast-paced and satisfying, yet book writing with its slower tempo became her main focus after her children were born.
Collaborations with a legendary southern football coach (Another Season: A Coach’s Story of Raising an Exceptional Son, a New York Times bestseller) as well as with a former New York Yankee batboy, (Yankee Miracles: Life with the Boss and the Bronx Bombers, recently optioned by A&E studios for film) offer young adult and adult readers hope in overcoming life’s obstacles.
Talented illustrators, Laura Cornell and Ross MacDonald, bring Sally’s words to life.
Two organizations Women Writing Women's Lives, and Biographers International Organization (BI0) https://biographersinternational.org connect Sally with others in her field . She’s also privileged to be a part of the Chappaqua Children's Book Festival, where she served on the board of directors for several years.
Sally enjoys teaching and particularly engaged with an after-school creative writing class of 4th-6th graders at Cornwall Consolidated School in Cornwall, Ct. For eleven years, as the founder of and special advisor to the Project Sunshine Book Club (www.projectsunshine.org) Sally was fortunate to bring talented authors and illustrators into hospitals to work with ill children.
Her husband, Bob, a lawyer, watercolorist, and fellow adventurer, and she live in New York City--not too far from their grown children. As a family they've hiked the mountains in the Andes (Machu Picchu) and in the Himalayas (Ladakh northern India.) Together they always have fun--no matter what they’re doing.
Here are some articles, interviews, and reviews if you'd like to know more.
NEW YORK TIMES
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/26/nyregion/books-about-a-musical-plaintiff-rockefeller-and-the-yankees.html
MANHATTAN NEWS NETWORK INTERVIEW
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqVZZtbYDw0&t=14s
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-4169-1207-1
WBGO Radio
(Click on link below and scroll down to 7th interview)
http://wbgo.org/post/author-sally-cook-helps-you-learn-how-speak-soccer#stream/0
HAPPENING IN THE HILLS
http://happeninginthehills.com/onourradar/how-to-speak-golf/
WOMEN AROUND TOWN
http://www.womanaroundtown.com/sections/woman-around-town/wats-proust-questionnaire-sally-cook-hits-one-out-of-the-park-with-baseball-books/
Photo credit: Bleacher and Everand Photography.
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