Mary Lyons was born on November 28, 1947 in Macon, Georgia, United States, into the family of Joseph and Evelyn Lyons. Her family moved around a lot, and Mary found a way to stay centered by keeping her nose in a book or even a comic book.
Education
In 1970 Mary received Bachelor of Science at Appalachian State University, where she also earned Master of Science in 1972. She also has a doctoral study at University of Virginia.
Career
Mary had a part-time job tutoring a black child who lived outside the town limits, where most of the black families lived. Straight out of college, she went to teach at an all-black, inner-city school in the middle of a housing project. Books and supplies were hard to come by but that didn't stop Mary from teaching her science classes. She soon went back to school to earn her masters degree so that she could work as a reading specialist, a job she held for 17 years.
At last she was ready to move on to another career. Her new job as a school librarian kept her in the teaching world she loved, but it wasn't quite so demanding as working intensely one-on-one as a reading specialist. During her years of teaching, she discovered that the students were fascinated by the tales collected by Zora Neale Hurston. So she decided to write a book for young adults on Hurston as she could not find one in the school library. Mary spent nine months writing and researching "Sorrow's Kitchen: The Life and Folklore of Zora Neale Hurston." The first publisher she sent it to rejected it, but Mary quickly sent it off to yet another publishing house who bought it almost immediately.
Mary Lyons has written many books that blend good storytelling with the black experience in folklore and history. Besides folklore books such as "Raw Head", "Bloody Bones: African-American Tales of the Supernatural" and "The Butter Tree: Tales of Bruh Rabbit", she has also combined her love of black culture with a passion for art and artisans. She created a series entitled "African American Artists and Artisans", which tells the stories of people who worked with their hands to create things of beauty, be they cabinetmakers, quilters, blacksmiths, or artists on paper. Mary has also taught writing at the University of Virginia, near her Charlottesville home.
As a socially active author, Lyons presents one constant theme in her writing: the importance and value of the various underrepresented sources of American culture, particularly the contributions of women and African-Americans.
Interests
playing Irish penny whistle and banjo, performing with the group Virgil and the Chicken Heads
Connections
Mary Lyons is married to Paul Collinge, the owner of a used and rare bookstore.