Rita Gard Seedorf

Rita Seedorf is a retired professor who became reacquainted with her high school classmate, Margaret Verhoef, as they planned together for their 50th high school reunion. Together they wrote 'Letters from Brackham Wood" followed by a sequel "Letters From A Wary Watcher".

Letters From Brackham Wood" tells the story of two cousins, separated in early childhood, who reestablish contact in 1937. Moira writes from Brackham Wood, a fictional town located approximately the location of Upper Beeding, West Sussex, England while Margaret writes from Spokane, Washington in the U.S. Readers of the book experience WWII in both countries.

"Letters From A Wary Watcher" takes place during the early Cold War years, 1947-1950 as more letters are exchanged between the two cousins. Moira writes first from England and then from Richland, Washington. She has become a "watcher" of spies while Margaret continues her work as a physician and becomes deeply concerned about the effects of plutonium production in the middle of the State of Washington.

Years, later, Moira's daughter, Maemi, arranges the second set of letters in an attempt to discover the secret activities of her mother's life. These fictional letters are based on the history of Spokane, Highgate in London, the Hanford Nuclear Reservation, the quickly constructed city of Richland, Washington, the Cambridge 5 Spies in England and their Soviet handler, Yuri Modin.

Rita is also the author of "One Room Out West: The Story of the Jore School and its Students" and "A History of the Campus School at Eastern Washington University."