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Georgia Kohart is a
columnist and features
writer for the Defiance (Ohio)
Crescent-News,
an award-winning daily paper (circ. 18,000).
Her work has been published nationally by
the Associated Press and in periodicals such
as Country Woman and Home and Away – AAA
Magazine. She is author of two historical
novels set in the Ohio canal era. People of
all ages love A Heritage of the Heart
and younger readers enjoy the time-travel
adventure, Secret of the Lockkeeper’s
House. Heart and Hearth – Christmas
on the Farm was published just in time
for Christmas 2007. Known for her humor
through her weekly column, Kohart is also a popular speaker for many events and
organizations. An avid wildlife watcher,
gardener and hobby farmer, she lives
on a small Paulding County, Ohio, farm with
her husband, daughters, dogs and cats and a
red barn full of friendly critters.
The question
often comes up of how or when I became a
writer. The answer is I really don’t know.
There must have been a writer lurking inside
the “C” typing student. Thanks to the
computer age, my ongoing battle with typing
paper and correction tape came to a peaceful
end. Putting my thoughts down went a lot
more smoothly and trees on the planet
breathed a collective sigh of relief.
I have been
a newspaper columnist and features writer
and freelance writer for almost a decade and now we’re
celebrating the publication of my third
book, Heart and Hearth – Christmas on the
Farm. It’s truly amazing how some
acreage, an old farmhouse and a red barn can
impact a life.
Born in
Lima, Ohio, I have three sisters, two older,
one younger. My mother’s death from cancer
right before my 17th birthday has
strongly influenced who I am as a person and
as a mother. My dad is in his 80s and while
he does have some health problems, his wife
Irene keeps him on track – not always an
easy task!
I’ve
maintained a lifelong love affair with books
and still remember the moment the
enchantment of reading was unlocked. All
through my life I have read obsessively,
voraciously. I believe my writing ability
has its roots in a sort of osmotic process
with all those books. When my nose wasn’t
stuck between the pages, a great deal of my
time was devoted to drawing the wonderful figments that danced in my
imagination.
My other pastime was pleading,
wheedling and scheming for a pet, any pet.
Desperate for an animal with which to share
my life, I was a clandestine, critter-lovin’
Ellie Mae Clampett. At different times I
secreted a turtle in my dresser drawer, a
rabbit in my closet and a duckling in the
basement.
A
vocational test in junior high set my skills
as that of a florist or a chicken farmer.
While it was good for laughs back then, as
my writing reflects, the prediction turned
out to be frighteningly prophetic.
After
graduation from high school, I attended the
Art Institute of Pittsburgh, but was
terribly homesick and returned home before
graduating. After that I worked as an
interpreter at a local living history museum
and as a florist. Oh yes, in between time I
met Tim and we were married in 1977 – five
days after he graduated from college!
Our first
daughter, Katherine, was stillborn in October
of 1979. Tim and I were both devastated, but
rejoiced in February 1981 with the birth of
Elizabeth. Through that time I grew to be
absolutely awed by the birth process. That
interest led me to train as a licensed
practical nurse. In between having our two
other two girls, I worked part-time in the
medical field for about 10 years before our
move to the country. I consider myself very
fortunate, however, to have been able to
stay home with the girls during most of that
time. I loved doing the mom things: going
for walks to the park and library, sewing
little dresses, craft projects, reading
stories at naptime – and fixing lots and
lots of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
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