Palmer, Pamela Lynn 1951- (Palmer Leigh, Lynn Palmer)

PERSONAL:

Born May 29, 1951, in Shreveport, LA; daughter of Harold Arthur (a chemist) and Velma (a homemaker) Palmer; children: Jillinda. Ethnicity: "English/Scots/Irish." Education: Stephen F. Austin State University, B.A., 1971, M.A., 1973; Texas A&M University, doctoral study, 1973-75.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Valencia, CA. E-mail—palmer [email protected].

CAREER:

Stephen F. Austin State University, Nacogdoches, TX, library assistant, 1976-98; Palo Verde College, Blythe, CA, librarian, 1999-2005.

MEMBER:

California Writers Club.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Award from Poetry Society of Texas, 1968, for "Sun and Faces"; awards from Deep South Writers and Artists Conference, 1969, for "The Tune of Pilgrimage," and 1993, for Eclipse of the Sun; award from Piney Woods Writers and Artists Conference, 1969, for "Come Softly down the Road that Leads to Mihr"; Ottis Lock grant, East Texas Historical Association, 1988; award from writemovies.com, best play, 2004, for Eclipse of the Sun; additional poetry awards from National Federation of State Poetry Societies, Pennsylvania Poetry Society, New York Poetry Forum, Austin Poetry Society, Louisiana State Poetry Society, and Bitterroot.

WRITINGS:

(Under name Lynn Palmer) Rain Is for Dreaming (poetry), Naylor (San Antonio, TX), 1968.

A Book of Visions (poetry), Potto Publications (Nacogdoches, TX), 1979.

The Women of Knossos (poetry), Potto Publications (Nacogdoches, TX), 1981.

Horse of the Dawn (young adult novel), PublishAmerica (Frederick, MD), 2005.

Eclipse of the Sun: A Play in Two Acts, iUniverse (New York, NY), 2007.

Contributor to reference books. Contributor of articles and reviews to periodicals, including Texas Quarterly, Quartet, Houston Chronicle, American Forests, Encore, Lifestyle, and Texas Slough. Some writings appear under the pseudonym Palmer Leigh.

SIDELIGHTS:

Pamela Lynn Palmer became aware of her inclination to write at an early age. She once told CA: "I was initially inspired to write when at the age of nine I discovered Siddie Joe Johnson's book Cathy in the library at my elementary school in Bellaire, Texas. I checked out the book so many times that finally the school librarian told me I must read something else for a change. The attraction of Cathy (and I still pick that book up now and again) was its coastal Texas setting complete with green tomato worms, crayfish, and sea beans, which made me realize it was possible to write about things in my own backyard."

Palmer later added: "I lived most of my life in Texas, before moving to California in 1999. I would have been a regionalist wherever I happened to be. I love mountains, sea coasts, deserts, and forests with equal ardor, and my characters tend to be shaped, buoyed, and restricted by the elements of their surroundings."