Before
she organized her own company—Life Everlasting Press—and self-published her
debut novel, Gracie Lewis Chandler enjoyed a successful career as an elementary
school teacher. Her love of teaching and devotion to community service provided
many opportunities for creative expression.
In
addition to various community organizations, she has worked diligently for SICARS,
Inc., (Sapelo Island Cultural and Revitalization Society), a grassroots
organization that supports the legacy of the Gullah Geechee culture. She is
currently a member of the Hog Hammock Public Library Board on Sapelo Island,
Georgia, the place of her birth. She grew up in nearby Brunswick, Georgia, but
frequent visits to the island established early-on that Sapelo was home. It was
a love of her nurturing Geechee upbringing and rich heritage that led to the
writing of Free to Be.
Gracie
received her baccalaureate degree from Florida Agricultural and Mechanical
University, (FAMU), Tallahassee, Florida and her master’s degree in Curriculum
and Instruction from the University of Northern Colorado, Greeley, Colorado. It
was at FAMU that she met her future husband, Tommy J. Chandler.
She
ended her long career in education as a school library-media specialist,
retiring first in Miami-Dade County, and later in Jacksonville, Florida, where
she now resides. She and Tommy enjoy the company of friends, their church, and
community organizations as she writes the sequel to Free to Be.
