Carol Johmann, Ph.D.
Children's Author
I've been an author, journalist, medical writer, and research biologist in my career. But no matter what I'm doing, I try to find a way to combine my interests in science, writing, and education.
I grew up in a suburban town on Long Island, outside New York City, with wonderful parents, three sisters, and lots of friendly neighbors. Because one of my grandmothers lived in Manhattan and my other grandparents lived on a bay way out on the Island, I visited the City often during the school year and spent summer vacations at the beach. How lucky can you get, right? A voracious reader and fan of skyscrapers, bridges, and Broadway plays, by twelve I dreamed of becoming a scientist, architect, or foreign correspondent who would spend all her spare time in darkened theaters!
After earning a Ph.D. in Cell Biology from the University of Rochester in upstate New York, I moved to New York City to do research at Rockefeller University. Soon, though, I changed careers and joined TIME as a reporter, later switching to its sister publication, Discover, when that magazine was launched. I also freelanced for OMNI, American Health, and Science Digest, and revised elementary and high school textbooks.
During those years, I reported and wrote on everything from the insides of a virus to the outer reaches of space, from eroding beaches to spreading wildfires. Each week brought a new topic -- AIDS, the Challenger and Chernobyl disasters, superconductors, and cholesterol. Along the way I became interested in photography and began taking my camera on assignments. To my delight, several of my photographs were published in Discover. And, of course, while living in the City, I went to lots of plays, both on and off Broadway.
Another change of careers brought me to southern Connecticut and a stint of corporate life in the international R&D division of a pharmaceutical company. That's when I satisfied the foreign travel part of my childhood dream by zooming around Europe at company expense coordinating a worldwide training program. After establishing my own business as a pharmaceutical consultant and medical writer, I moved back to the Rochester area 17 years ago to begin writing children's activity books with my youngest sister, Elizabeth J. Rieth, who lived there with her family. We've written five books together.
Although I don't have children of my own, Liz and another sister, Patricia, have made me aunt to five nieces and two nephews. When they were younger, Liz's kids and their friends tested the activities before we put them in the books. I love being an aunt, and being one has helped me understand what kids like (and don't like). I think it also makes me better at giving presentations based on our books at schools, libraries, and museums.
My sixth book, Skyscrapers!, was the first one I wrote on my own. It was released the day before the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York. There are photos of the WTC towers and an explanation of how they were built in the book. Being so familiar with the towers through writing the book as well as having visited them many times made it all the more shocking to see them destroyed.
For my most recent book, I traveled back in time to our American past -- on a journey across the North American wilderness with Captains Meriwether Lewis and William Clark to celebrate their expedition's bicentennial anniversary.
Last year I moved back to Connecticut. I'm currently working on another activity-based biography and several picture books.
All text on this site copyright © 2001-2008 Carol A. Johmann. All rights reserved.
Individual activities on this site may be printed for use at home or by a teacher for use in a single classroom.
The reproduction of any activity, in whole or in part, for an entire school or for commercial use is strictly prohibited.
Original art, photographs, and the Dr Buzz logo may not be reproduced in any form for commercial or educational
use without the written permission of its owner, Carol A. Johmann. Contact her for all inquiries.
I'm also known as Dr. Buzz. Find out why here.
