Though I grew up an army brat, I lived a large part of my childhood in my father’s hometown of Lake City, SC, while he did tours of duty in Korea and Vietnam. I married my high school sweetheart, Hal, on July 4, 1976. We have 3 grown children: Elizabeth, Eric, and Lane. My husband and I now reside in Flat Rock, NC. In 1991, when my sons were 1 and 4, I created the “Gert the SEE Turtle” books to help my sons learn to read, count numbers, know their colors, understand emotions, etc. My then twelve-year-old daughter was the inspiration for Gert (an acronym for General Education with Respect to Turtles).
Gert wants to encourage children to enjoy observing and learning about their world every day. After all, Gert’s first love is learning and she wants all young people to want, and be able, to learn as much as she does.
