MaryTherese (MT) Grabowski doesn’t just bleed red. Red, white and blue to be more precise! This only daughter of six children born into an Air Force family has a patriotic gene that has only strengthened with life experiences.
Grabowski’s imagination gave her a passion for writing and storytelling. After graduation from Wesleyan College with a degree in Communications, Grabowski spent the next twenty years in broadcasting. First on the air in radio and then as a reporter and television news anchor. The military and government were two of this award winning journalists beats, so telling those stories not only honed her skills it made her passion for patriotism and writing to help keep people informed grow.
She was lured from the broadcast news business into the military advocacy world where she spent six years defending Robins AFB Georgia and our United States Air Force at the local, state and national levels as the Executive Director of a non-profit organization. It was during this time that something life changing happened. Her then 13 year old niece wanted to go to Washington DC on a trip. Grabowski told her niece that they would vacation to DC. later in the year for a fun, but educational trip!
One day during the Presidential Campaign in 2008 Grabowski and Sam were listening to the radio in the car when a story came on about Barack Obama winning the Democratic Nomination. The news story was discussing who his potential cabinet members might be. Grabowski asked Sam, “Can you tell me who makes up The President’s Cabinet?” Samantha without hesitation responded, “Why do I care who makes his furniture?” Needless to say Grabowski almost wrecked the car. This bright, well-educated niece was serious. Grabowski quickly learned that most students do not seriously learn about government until they are a sophomore in high school. To the author, that was alarming as in two years, students will be eligible to vote.
After a restless night of sleep, the character America Johnson and The Spirit of America Series was born.
About the Illustrator
Michelle Graham Fricks is an eccentric, passionate, magical thinker, and artist that has a diverse background. Another unique quality she possesses is that she remembers distinctly what it is like to be a kid. She was a military kid, but not a typical one. She was taught patriotism and serving others early in life by her father, who is a Vietnam Veteran and further served through the Air National Guard and her mother who was, and still is, a talented homemaker. She is the oldest of three sisters, so there was always a lot going on in their house. This did not stop Michelle from finding time to sit in her favorite persimmon tree so she could imagine and draw. Then in Kindergarten she heard many, many stories and listened to fairy tales on small records with the turn-along books. She admired the lovely art in those books so much, and loved when the teacher would turn the book to show the illustrations to the class. Then, the teacher had the students write and illustrate their own books, and the drawings would no longer be called “drawings” but now “illustrations”! Her art mentor told her something very prophetic. He said, “One day, you will be illustrating for children, because your heart is so young. If you don’t, it would be a shame.” What a wise sage.
Michelle simply feels she is fulfilling her mentor’s prediction. As patriotic as she is quirky, she wants to help our youngest citizens come to an understanding of our country’s history and how it works today. She wishes to help etch it in a most engaging way, yet never forgetting that they are children that cannot wait for the teacher to turn the book around to show the picture to them.
