Ruth Fosdick Jones

Ruth Fosdick Jones writes:

"I was born into a family which has made a practice of fathering (or mothering) books. My father compiled a Greek grammar, my mother wrote a history of Buffalo for children, my uncle, writing under the name of Harry Castlemon, was in his generation a well-known author of books for boys; I have two brothers and a niece who are authors.

"I was first exposed to Egypt when I studied Ancient History in high school. With the discovery of Tutankhamen's tomb a year or so later my interest received another shot in the arm, and the gift copy of Breasted's History of Egypt as a graduation present completed the conquest. Some years later when I was teaching Ancient History to fifth graders, the idea for the story of Boy of the Pyramids got its start and I wrote at it off and on for the next twelve years.

"Mixed in and around these bouts with Egyptology, I acquired an A.B. and A.M. from Mount Holyoke College, worked in two publishing houses, married an advertising man who also writes, and produced three children, who are, if slight deterrents to writing, very satisfactory guinea pigs."

—from the dust jacket flap for Boy of the Pyramids