Author's BIO    

     Lynda Lippman-Lockhart grew up in St. Petersburg, Florida, and graduated from the University of Florida with a Bachelors Degree in Education. She then earned her English degree from the University of South Florida. She taught high school English for twenty-six years, was director of a nursery school for four years, and upon retirement, began her next profession, writing. Her writing skills were honed at workshops at the University of Iowa, Lesley University and Eckerd College. She won first place for her short story "The Pink Bathtub" at the Florida Writers Conference. She and her husband Robert and their standard poodle Bogie spend their winters in Florida and summers in their cabin in South Carolina.    

The spotlight scanned the crowd of contestants waiting for the announcement of the coveted award. The drums rolled; people cheered; my name was called. I stood frozen. Actually that wasn’t exactly how it happened, but to me it might as well have been. I was nine and had entered a writing contest on “How I Spent My Summer.” The exhilaration of believing I could write has become the impetus for my second career.      My first career, teaching, spanned thirty years. Born and raised in St. Petersburg, Florida, I attended public schools through twelfth grade at which time I enrolled in the University of Florida where I received a degree in Elementary Education. During the next few years I had the opportunity to direct, create curriculum, and run a nursery school for children ages 2-5. Wishing to expand my degree, I attended the University of South Florida where I earned my English specialization. For the next twenty-six years, I taught English I, II, and III Regular and Honors.

     The writing spotlight took hold again after attending the Eckerd Reading Festival at St. Petersburg’s Eckerd College. I began attending local workshops; joined Wordsmitten and the South Carolina Writers Association to furtherer my education and polish my writing skills. Summers at the University of Iowa, Lesley University in Boston, and Eckerd’s “Writers in Paradise spurred me on to want to publish my writing, and when I won first place for my short story “The Pink Bathtub,” I thought I was on my way.

     Recently my focus has turned to the community. My standard poodle, who inspired Oodles of Poodles, and I volunteer each week at the Ronald McDonald House associated with All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg, where we play with and read to children awaiting or recovering from treatment at the hospital. Bogie and I also visit Menorah Manor, an assisted living and nursing home. Both have been rewarding experiences.