Mary Ann Olsen

Raised in Winchester, Virginia, she performed as a teenager across the three-state area, singing pop songs and tap dancing. In later years, she wrote, produced, and directed large outdoor musicals, with book listings describing productions that involved more than 1,400 participants.

She also served as Executive Director of the Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival in Winchester, a longtime community event that brought her into contact with well-known public figures and entertainers. Several retailer and library listings describe her as someone who had long loved writing, especially poetry, before turning more fully to books.

Mary Ann Olsen has written children's books including Little Cousins Birthdays and Little Cousins Birthdays II, and she is also credited with Beach Escape. One publication notice says she and her husband, Fred, lived in Lancaster, Virginia when her first children's story was released.