.jpg)
That's me in front of the Space Shuttle Discovery at the National Air and Space Museum!
I was very lucky to be able to meet some the of the WASP in Sweet Water, Texas, seventy years after WWII.
I'm happy to talk about history at the FDR Memorial in Washington, DC, no matter what the weather is like.
Here's my formal bio:
Patricia O’Connell Pearson is a former history teacher and history content specialist. Always enthusiastic about sharing stories of history, she earned her MFA in Writing for Young People from Lesley University and is the author of four nonfiction histories from Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers. When she is not researching or writing, she can often be found talking about history as a volunteer with the National Park Service in Washington, DC. She lives in the City of Fairfax, Virginia.
Here are some informal facts about me: I’ll give you the answers. You decide what the questions are.
-
I grew up in Bethesda, Maryland, very close to Washington, DC. Now I live in Fairfax, Virginia, still very close to Washington. I feel lucky that I get to see the Washington Monument and the Capitol and the Lincoln Memorial and a lot of other monuments and memorials quite often. You know what? I never get tired of seeing those buildings as I come across the Potomac River. Ever.
-
My older sister and three younger brothers and I didn’t always get along when we were young. In fact, there was a lot of yelling and carrying on at our house. Now, though, we love getting together and are always there for each other. We’re friends as well as siblings. There’s still a lot of noise and carrying on when we’re together. But that’s because we laugh a lot.
-
Singing is my favorite hobby. I sing in a chorus of about eighty people. We perform all kinds of music from Bach and Beethoven to Broadway and the Beatles. I also sing in a "girl group" of six women. It's a lot of work and a lot of fun.
-
I find that one of the best parts of writing is learning about all sorts of things. So far, I've learned about aviation and forest fires and soil conservation. I've learned about the 1930s and the 1940s. I've studied up on the court process and impeachment and investigative journalism. I've talked to people who were treated horribly because of the color of their skin but are still positive, kind people. I was able to write about pilots, conservation, a political scandal, and injustice because I did a lot of research. We history people like doing research. Just like singing in a chorus, it’s a lot of work and a lot of fun. I suppose that’s true of many things.
There are CCC sites all over the country. You can find them in every state.
It's a strange picture, but I needed it for Conspiracy. It's the garage where the reporter and his source met in the middle of the night and it's not far from where I live.
Here I am at the Civil Rights Memorial in Richmond, standing with giants