The sea and islands have inspired my writing and my art. I grew up in Manhattan, which (hard to believe) is really an island. My neighborhood, Yorkville, was by the East River. Back then most of the buildings were brownstones and children played on the sidewalks. My artist mother took my brother and me to as many museums as playgrounds. Hot summers sent us to Nantucket Island.
I still have close friends from my fifteen years at The Dalton School. I was the photography editor of our newspaper and packed my schedule with art and science. To unwind, I volunteered at an animal shelter, skied downhill and galloped horses in Central Park. I was a book junkie too. Although not free of angst, my teen years were a lot of fun. There was so much to do in a big city and no need to drive.
Summers were spent exploring the world. At age fifteen I saw my first cricket match at a boys' school in England. Through School for Field Studies I photo-ID-ed dolphins in the Gulf of Mexico.Another summer I lived in a tent while studying wildlife conservation in Kenya.
There is no single thread in my life but a web of many interests. At Harvard College I majored in Government and spent my junior year abroad at King's College London. I rode on the Equestrian Team and rowed intramural crew. At M.I.T. I got a masters in Political Science. I learned painting from a mentor artist, Aviva Green, and in art schools (National Academy, Harvard Graduate School of Design, Cambridge Center, Maine College of Art.) I worked for several environmental organizations and as a manager of a study abroad program for high school students.
In 1997 my British husband, Henry Laurence,
accepted a teaching position at Bowdoin College in Maine. It
was quite a shock for a city girl to move to a small town where the
trees outnumbered the people and winters were long. I adapted and enjoy cross country skiing, swimming and hiking. We built a tree house too. Beyond the woods, I got involved in local politics. That experience led to a mystery novel (on submission) about a dead Superintendent and a town full of suspects.
How could I not be inspired by the
beautiful coastal landscape? I paint watercolors during the summer in
Maine and on Nantucket Island and write novels during the school year. For my first young adult novel (on submission), I
drew from my experience growing up in Manhattan and moving to Maine. My teenaged daughter and son helped me make the characters
sound up to date.
In 2007-8 we moved back to England when my husband took a sabbatical at Oxford University. Our son was a day boy at Abingdon, a boarding school for boys, and our daughter learned how to play cricket at the local state school. I'm currently working on a new novel inspired by my family's experiences on the British Isles.
Top right corner photo of Sarah Laurence at Bailey Island, Maine by Catherine Ferdinand. Photo of Sarah and her dog Stella by Jennifer Mirsky. All other photos and painting by Sarah Laurence.
