Born in Boston, Massachusetts, Anita Sanchez spent her early childhood on Cape Ann, the setting for her first children’s book, The Invasion of Sandy Bay. She then lived in upstate New York, and attended Vassar College, where she was one of the first students to declare a new major that was introduced after the first Earth Day in 1970: Ecology. She received a Bachelor’s Degree in Ecology and Conservation in 1977. A summer job at a nature center led to a thirty year career with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation as an educator. Anita works with the public, from preschoolers to senior citizens, schools, and adult groups, providing educational programs on natural and cultural history. Her love of the outdoors led her to write The Teeth of the Lion: The Story of the Beloved and Despised Dandelion. “I always loved dandelions, but I wasn’t moved to start writing until I discovered the horrifying fact that more than seven million songbirds a year are killed by pesticides used on lawns and gardens. But I realized no one would want to read a tirade on the evils of pesticides. I started looking for reasons why people should appreciate dandelions, and just kept finding more and more reasons why, throughout history, they have been valued as having the power and beauty of lions.” Research on the lore and history of plants led to an interest in the Shakers, who maintained a flourishing business in medicinal plants. "I found that while many people love Shaker furniture, few understand the nature of these fascinating people. They were leaders in civil rights and women's rights, and were among the first pacifists in America. They advocated for causes like clean air and water--you could argue that they were the first American environmentalists." The result of many years of research into the Shakers, Mr. Lincoln's Chair: The Shakers and Their Quest for Peace, has just been released by McDonald and Woodward Publishing Company. Anita enjoys travel in the wilds of the United States as well as visiting remote places around the world—she has ridden camels in the Sahara desert, dived the Great Barrier reef of Australia, and participated in an Earthwatch expedition to the Kingdom of Tonga in the South Pacific, as well as travelling in England, France, Spain, and hiking Mt. Olympus in Greece. Anita lives in Amsterdam, New York, with her husband, George Steele, a free-lance environmental educator, and her two sons Alex and Timothy.
