Jane McClaren

Jane McClaren is no stranger to failure. Nearly flunking out of Kirkwood HS she sabotaged her entrée into the universities with fine art schools she had thought she might attend. In fact, at the time of her high-school graduation in St. Louis, Jane was overweight and diagnosed with depression.

In 1975, her friend Patrick asked her to go with him to a health school in San Antonio. Patrick suffered from obesity and his doctor considered this a last resort. With desire and a strong will Jane's path took a merciful turn. Jane began her 35-year study of food and health.

In 1986 Jane moved to Minnesota with her beloved horse, Binski, and her dog, Nicholas, and studied literature at the University of Minnesota. The love of words, writing, and a curiosity about life led her to this choice, and the craft she learned there led her--down the road to this book.

The next year Jane joined a therapy group, Dreikur's Relationships, based on the family-placement theories of Austrian psychiatrist and psychologist Alfred Adler (1870-1937). Jane had always yearned to understand why a young, beautiful, funny, intelligent woman had wanted to die. Working with this group began an understanding that would eventually change her life.

Twenty-six years after barely graduating from high school, Jane earned her B.A. in English from William Woods University. And two years later, in 1993, she earned her M.A. in English from the University of Missouri-St. Louis. Jane had discovered her perseverance and her value.

Once overweight and depressed, Jane teaches us in Honest Eating that we can be healthy and still maintain a positive "even lusty" relationship with food. She also teaches us that we are capable and ready.