Donna J. Stone
Donna J. Stone (February 23, 1933 - December 12, 1994) was an award-winning poet and philanthropist. Her works included numerous individually published poems, as well as a book entitled
Wielder of Words: A Collection of Poems
(© 1991 Donna J. Stone, © 2010 Stonegate Press) that was named the American Poetry Society’s 1991 Book of the Year. Wielder of Words, edited by Ms. Stone's younger son Christopher K. Stone, is now in its second printing.
In addition to writing, Ms. Stone was actively involved in several charitable organizations, including the Association for Retarded Children and the National Committee for the Prevention of Child Abuse. She also established the Matthew J. Pascal Foundation, a private family foundation named after her firstborn son.
Young Donna and her brother grew up near Bexley, Ohio, an affluent suburb of Columbus. Twice struck with rheumatic fever as a child, she was bedridden for months at a time. Her health improved, however, and she grew into a beautiful young lady. She married a journalist named John Pascal, an aspiring author and playwright whose works would later include the Broadway musical
George M!
The Pascals moved to New York, and Mr. Pascal's career advanced. They soon had a son, and life seemed perfect. Sadly, the child developed a debilitating illness. The Pascals divorced a few years later.
A second marriage soon followed, to pilot and real estate investor L.E. Stone. The Stones also had one child and, due to Mr. Stone's real estate interests, the family of four eventually moved from New York to a suburb of Dallas. It was there that Ms. Stone began writing in earnest. Most of her published works, including Wielder of Words, were written in Texas.
The heart damage from rheumatic fever took its toll, and Ms. Stone’s health began to fail at an early age. Yet she continued to write, and was known to say that she did some of her best work between bouts of illness. She died of heart failure in 1994, at age 61. Ms. Stone’s family, in cooperation with American Mothers, Inc., founded the Donna J. Stone National Literary Awards in her honor.
“The most visible creators are those artists whose medium is life itself. The ones who express the inexpressible ~ without brush, hammer, clay, or guitar. They neither paint nor sculpt. Their medium is simply being. Whatever their presence touches has increased life. They see, but don't have to draw...Because they are the artists of being alive... :) ~ ☆ ~ Donna J. Stone”
“(About philanthropy...) Share what you've been given. It may not keep you from the psychiatrist's couch...but it just might keep the padding on the couch and off the walls.”
“(About her age when her first poem was published...) As a poet, it's fair to say that I was a 'late bloomer.' My youngest had published two poems by the age of nine. Isn't that amazing? I was a little older when I saw my first poem in print -- almost 40 years older. Now my little boy is my editor, and I wouldn't have it any other way. I'm the only writer I know who used to burp her editor.”
“(About her brief experience writing greeting cards...) I even wrote for a greeting card company -- for about a month. A family friend asked me to do it, but I hated it. Hated it. I told her I'd rather wear hats. Fortunately, she laughed. ”
“(About beginning to write after moving from New York to Texas...) Honestly, there wasn't much else to do there.”
“(About her first job as a fashion model in New York...) It was mostly hats. I was too short and my breasts were too big, so any fantasies I had about modeling in New York literally went to my head. I wore hats.”