Joslyn Gaines Vanderpool

Joslyn Gaines Vanderpool was born on an Air Force Base in Greenville, Mississippi to a strong, loving family that encouraged her to be and do her best. For years she daydreamed and imagined stories, wrote plays as a child and found time whenever she could as a busy wife, mother, full-time career woman and caregiver to write poems, short stories and edit other writers' work. She is also a motivational speaker, lecturer, and advocate for living passionately. Her topics of interest include, the importance of legacy leaving and giving back, the African American experience, women and minority issues, and autism from a parents’ perspective.

She currently lives in Northern California with her husband and daughter. After attaining a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the University of California at Berkeley, she had a varied career which included work as a congressional intern, a writer and editor for political and urban magazines, a researcher for two educational African American History documentaries and years of service in the field of education at Howard University, the University of New Mexico and American River College.

As a citizen of the world, Joslyn has traveled and met people from all regions of the globe through her work activities and personal journeys and loves to hear and share stories.  She has completed two anthologies titled: Our Black Fathers: Brave, Bold and Beautiful! and Our Black Mothers: Brave, Bold and Beautiful! in collaboration with Anita McGee Royston and has plans to write plays and produce more books in the near future.