|
|
| 
Dr. Tamara Montgomery
Professor Emeritus
University of Hawaii
|
|
I believe in dreams!
Let me share a story about a little girl
who made her dreams come true!
|
Once upon a time there was a little girl born into a family of artists who had a sense of adventure and a love for the people and places of the world. When she was young she lived in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. When she got older her parents moved back to the United States where she lived in Illinois, Wyoming, and Arizona. She loved to learn so she studied Theatre at Arizona State University and then went to the University of Southern California to earn her doctorate in Communications, with a minor in Early Childhood Education. During these years she grew to love teaching, directing plays and writing poems for children. She was very happy when the University of Hawaii invited her to be a professor and teach classes in Children’s Theatre, Mask Making, Creative Drama and Puppetry. She stayed at the University for 40 years and became Director of the Youth Theatre Graduate Program. She even wrote four books on educational puppetry. Teachers around the world used these books in their classrooms to teach children how to make puppets. Then, because she had grown to love Hawaii so much, she wrote four stories about the people and places of the Pacific Rim. You can read about them in the Book Section. Poetry was always her passion. When she retired she collected all the poems she had written for children. “I think I will create books so that all children can enjoy the poems,” she said to herself. So combining her love of rhyme and animals she began her series of "Nature Poems for Curious Children". You can also read about these in the Book Section.
As she got older she enjoyed weaving baskets, painting watercolors, kayaking and swimming in the ocean. Most of all she loved reading to her children, Ian and Tara, who grew up to be parents of their own. When asked what else made her happy she said, “I love hanging out with my two grandchildren in Hawaii and visiting my three grandchildren in Oxfordshire, England.” When she married Cliff, a retired airline pilot and sailor, they sailed around the Hawaiian Islands and flew missions together for the Coast Guard Auxillary. He produced the poetry books on Amazon.
|
