About Barbara Gowan

Growing up in a family with three older brothers in Berea,
Ohio, Barbara enjoyed playing with her dolls, building leaf
forts along the creek, and reading books.  The Borrowers
by Mary Norton, The Happy Hollisters series by Jerry West
and all of Louisa May Alcott books were her favorites.



She attended St. Mary's School and was valedictorian of
the Berea High School class in 1972.  She headed off to
South Bend as one of the few females (only 125) in the
freshman class as Notre Dame welcomed in the era of
co-education.   

  
 
   
                                                         Kindergarten graduation!   
At the University of Notre Dame,
she majored in biology and took 
classes in ecology, botany, and
even entomology (the study of
insects!) - great preparation for
her job as a park naturalist with
the Cleveland Metroparks. 		  
 
  Barbara began sharing her love of nature by leading family discovery walks, night hikes
(she can hoot like a barred owl -hoo,hoo,a,hoooo),
and even woodland wildflower walks dressed
as Mother Nature. 

After the birth of their first daughter, Meghan, Ed and Barbara moved to Houston and several years later, they headed west to the Valley of the Sun.  Kaitlin joined the family in 1986 and they have called Arizona their home ever since.
  
                                                                                 



The Gowan family lives in Carefree
(on Serene Street!) and shares their yard
with a covey of quail, a family of javelina,
wandering coyotes, and an occasional rattlesnake.



 
     


 		                                                                                               
 
 Barbara is a member of the
Society of Children's Book
Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI)  
and is a board member of the
Arizona Reading Association.
She serves as past-president of'
the Greater Paradise Valley
Reading Council.		     Check out information for
  school visits, family 
  literacy nights, and
  professional development
  seminars for educators. 


 		  

Posted by Barbara Gowan at 9/3/2009 2:23 PM
Categories: Barbara Gowan biography
Tags: bio
 

What did you think of this article?




Trackbacks
Trackback specific URL for this entry
  • No trackbacks exist for this entry.
Comments
  • No comments exist for this entry.
Leave a comment

Submitted comments will be subject to moderation before being displayed.

 Enter the above security code (required)

 Name

 Email (will not be published)

 Website

Your comment is 0 characters limited to 3000 characters.