Cooley, Regina Françoise 1940–

PERSONAL: Born May 16, 1940, in Flanders, Belgium; immigrated to United States, 1961, naturalized U.S. citizen; daughter of Angela and François Verreth; married second husband, Leland Frederick Cooley (a television producer and author), July 4, 1982 (deceased); children: (first marriage) Michael Dunn, Elizabeth Dunn. Education: H. Heart Institute (Heverlee, Belgium), teacher's degree, 1958.

ADDRESSES: Home—1241 Adams St., Ste. 1131, St. Helena, CA 94574. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Teacher of young children at a private school; professional actress, appearing in stage plays and television commercials; film, theater, and ballet critic.

AWARDS, HONORS: Children's book award, Northwest Center for the Arts, for The Magic Christmas Pony.

WRITINGS:

The Magic Christmas Pony, Capstone Publishing (Bellingham, WA), 1991.

Contributor to periodicals.

WORK IN PROGRESS: Three books.

SIDELIGHTS: Regina Françoise Cooley told CA: "As a very young child I was introduced to Grimm's fairy tales, Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tales, and Maeterlinck's The Blue Bird. Being read to promoted the desire to learn to read on my own. I soon realized that if I could read the story by myself, I did not have to wait until an adult was available.

"I never forgot a particular recipe book in my mother's kitchen. Even today I can still see the colorful animated carrots, tomatoes, spoons and forks dashing across the pages. Books are the enablers to let us travel into other worlds. Moreover, books can even span the chasm between rich and poor.

"I would like to be known as a writer who has integrity. I want my stories to instill a sense of self-esteem in children. Once you can do that, nothing is impossible. Last, just because the publishers are not listening, one should not stop writing."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

ONLINE

Regina Françoise Cooley Home Page, http://themagicchristmaspony.net (November 30, 2004).