I’m Rose Kent
— children’s book author, New Yorker, Navy veteran, and wife & mom of a wonderful, wacky blended tribe with six kids. That’s the main entree* of my life.
In the Club
By visiting here, I’m going to guess that you’re in the Club with me. The Club of Story Lovers who believe that no matter how plugged in, screen-addicted and click-crazy we get, nothing beats the joy of snuggling in a comfy chair with a good book and a favorite snack.
(Speaking of food, Oliver Twist got it right when he sang, “Food, Glorious, Food!” Tasty meals & treats often appear in my stories and in my kitchen (and a few are even homemade*!)
Then & Now
I grew up on Long Island, that sandy haven of fast tawkers, great delis, and a nail shop on every corner. Kings Park, my hometown, actually housed the state psychiatric center (no jokes, please!) There I read, wrote stories in spiral notebooks, played volleyball and tennis, and ate a lot of bagels and deli sandwiches*. And during summers, my wise parents, Harry and Theresa, showed my brothers and sister and me another American way of life by having us spend summers together in Maine* on Bauneg Beg Lake.
All those years of love & lunacy, gave me oodles of adventures (some real, some imagined). And often they spill into my books in the form of characters and places.
In 1980 the Village People sang,
“They want you,
they want you,
in the Navy,”
I decided to answer that call. I attended the U.S. Naval Academy in one of the first classes to admit women. Later, I served five years as a naval officer. Boat School was a thrill – and a challenge – and I’m so lucky to have made so many terrific Navy friends. One important rule I will never forget from my Navy days goes like this:
GO NAVY, BEAT ARMY!
Thanks to the Navy and later corporate America, I’ve lived in Maryland, Texas, Washington DC, Chicago, Long Island and Connecticut – and for a short stay, aboard ship. But home now is with my husband, Tom (a Jersey Boy) and my beautifully blended brood of six kids in upstate New York, a small town along the Mohawk River.
