Meet Mary Jane Savage, Carillon of Wake Forest’s Published Child Author
Meet Mary Jane Savage, Carillon of Wake Forest’s Published Child Author
Mary Jane Savage first put pen to paper in early 2007. Now, nearly a decade later, she has published two collections of children’s stories, Grammy Stories and More Grammy Stories.
Her writing interested started when her husband passed away, and Mary Jane decided she needed something to do with her hands. “I always enjoyed writing in school,” she explained. Turning to the written word once again, she used each of the stories she wrote to impart life lessons for children through the animal characters. “I find it easier to communicate through animals, and I think children are more receptive to learning from animals,” she said.
Mary Jane spent many years teaching the fourth grade in Pennsylvania and every Friday night her grandchildren would sleep over at her house. Snuggled together before bedtime, she made up tales to tell the children. “Most of the time, I fell asleep before they did,” she joked.
After chancing upon a book of poems written by a grandmother while shopping one day, Mary Jane got the idea to write down the stories she told her grandkids. Although the fables in her books are not the exact same stories she shared with her grandkids, they are based on the same characters and storylines. In addition to writing the stories, Mary Jane also did all of the pencil drawings that accompany each story and help bring the characters to life in the minds of young readers.
One of the stories in the first book is about a fish who is not satisfied with his fins, so he sets out on a quest to try wings and feet. By the end of the story, he discovers he is perfect just the way he is. “People really seem to like that story,” Mary Jane said. “So many kids and adults can relate to the struggles that fish goes through to find happiness with himself.”
Mary Jane dedicated the books to her grandkids, and they were eager to take them to school to show their friends. She also enjoys giving the books away as gifts. In January of 2016, she came moved to the Carillon facility in Wake Forest, North Carolina and introduced her books to other residents and their families. Now a whole new generation of grandchildren and great-grandchildren enjoy reading her stories. When people offer to pay her for the books, she asks instead that they make a small donation to a charity of their choice.
To learn more about Mary Jane’s collections of children’s stories and to get a copy of one of her books, click here.
Posted in Resident and Community Life, Resident Stories, Sage Stories Tagged author, books, Carillon, experiences, publisher, resident life, resident stories, teacher, Wake Forest on October 27, 2016