Steeped in the tradition of Irish poets by her father, Joanne Sullivan began writing poetry while still in grammar school. As the only child of John L. and Mary H. Sullivan, she sat at her father’s knee reading The New York Times’ magazine section with him on Sundays and paging through the Arts & Literature section, looking for the caricatures by Al Hirshfeld so she could pick out the artist’s daughter’s name, “Nina” in his line art. Captivated by the printed word, Joanne began writing little ditties for the paper. Weekly, she walked the mile and a half to visit the editor to present her works, many of which were published. From behind his piles of papers in the newsroom, Joanne learned about the process in which the news—and her poetry—was published. In the 1980s, Joanne began writing for local newspapers to help support her three children, Ryan, John, and Vanessa. She moved to Chester County, PA, in 1991, and commuted to Wilmington as a staff writer and photographer for The Dialogue, a newspaper published by the Diocese of Wilmington. Overcoming her lack of a degree with hard work and experience, Joanne then joined The PRESS, a weekly newspaper in Chester County, PA, as Sports Editor. She rapidly advanced to Managing Editor, and then as Executive Editor of all three publications. Now retired and living in a remote area in the Endless Mountains of Pennsylvania, she continues to capture, in words, the essence of Pennsylvania’s gifts as well as the Native American history unique to the area. She is a life member of the USMC Combat Correspondents' Association, and is has just completed a chapbook of her poetry, as well as a book about having found a still-secret 18th Century Munsee Lenape burial ground in upstate Pennsylvania. Joanne's three grown children are the greatest joy of her life. In addition to her devotion to her husband and her family, her hobbies include her pets, knitting and crocheting, photography, and hit-or-miss gardening.