Clarice Stasz

I was raised in South Jersey, then moved to northern California. Most of my writings concern the themes of gender, power, and family dynamics. I treat biography as a way to invite readers to enjoy history.

"Self-made" people are seldom such, but helped by those around them and the opportunities of their time. That's why I have written about Jack London, John D. Rockefeller, Cornelius Vanderbilt, and the many women responsible in part for their successes. Some of these women made their own success, such as Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, sculptor who studied under Rodin and founder of the Whitney museum, or Alva Belmont, who wrote about women's suffrage and gave enormous amounts of money to the National Women's Party.

In 2016 I self-published a book written 40 years earlier, my satirical mystery, Slanderley: Love and Death in Cornwall, followed by The Slanderley Curse: Nuns and Mayhem in Cornwall. The next volume will recount Slanderley during WWII.

When not writing, I am singing in a chorale, playing percussion in a concert band, or leading ukulele jams.