Maia Wojciechowska was born on August 7, 1927 in Warsaw. Her dad ("Zygmunt") was a wartime chief of staff for the Polish Air Force, and the family moved around a great deal. She attended schools in Poland, France, and England, developing a healthy hatred of formal education. When World War II began, her family moved westward with a group of refugees, settling in France. Maia didn't like France or the French and refused to speak the language, hopping from school to school - as many as seventeen schools in one year. She was a rebellious little punk. At eighteen she claims to have already held seventy-two jobs, many more to come, including undercover detective, restaurant hostess, masseuse, professional tennis instructor, ghostwriter, and translator for Radio Free Europe.
In 1942, the Wojciechowskis moved to California. She attended Immaculate Heart College, then found work as a copygirl for Newsweek, assistant editor of the RWDSU Record (a labor newspaper), assistant editor of American Hairdresser, literary agent, and publicity manager for Hawthorn Books.
In 1952 her first book for children, Market Day for `Ti Andre, was published under the name Maria Rodman. Since then she has published two more books for adults under this name, and seventeen kids' books as Maia Wojciechowska. She also published heaps of magazine articles. She translated an off-Broadway play in 1962.
Maia is a devout Roman Catholic who speaks out against government beauracracy and all amoral behavior. For several years in the early 90s she devoted herself to local politics in Mahwah, New Jersey, serving as a councilwoman and as a member of several committees. As a politician, she was energetic, idealistic, and confrontational. She ran for mayor but did not win.
In the early 90s, Wojciechowska's brother founded a publishing house, Pebble Beach Press. One of his first projects was a series of sixteen children's books, to be written by Maia. Each title would begin with the phrase "Dreams of" and revolve around a young person's struggle to achieve athletic or professional goals. However, the series ran dry after only a few titles.
Maia recently moved to Laguna Beach, California.
Books:
Dreams of Baseball
Dreams of Cycling
Dreams of the Deep
Dreams of Golf
Dreams of the Hoop
Dreams of the Indy Five Hundred
Dreams of the Kentucky Derby
Dreams of Soccer
Dreams of Teaching
Kingdom in a Horse
Shadow of a Bull (1965 Newbery Award)
A Single Light thanks to:
http://www.lib.usm.edu/~degrum/findaids/wojciech.htm
http://www.ala.org/alsc/nquick.html
www.amazon.com |
