Linda E. Jessup

Linda E. Jessup founded the Parent Encouragement Program (PEP), an independent non-profit family education center located in Kensington, Maryland, in 1982. During her more than thirty years' experience as a parent educator, radio talk show host, author and mother of seven children--biological, foster and adoptive--she developed the curriculum that forms the core of her 2014 book, Parenting with Courage and Uncommon Sense, co-authored with Emory Luce Baldwin.

Three "sparks" ignited Linda to write this book: the need for an updated parenting text, the fun of telling the story of the semi-fictional Naylor family's growth from chaos to more cooperative and enjoyable living, and the desire to share these exciting concepts well beyond PEP.

From early childhood on, behavior (both animal and human) and story-telling captivated Linda. This irresistible combination of fact and fiction often got her into--and occasionally, out of--trouble. Three years of creative writing in high school brought her National Scholastic writing awards and recognition as Utah's English Student of the Year. Adding degrees in anthropology and psychology, nursing and a master's degree in Public Health, Linda pioneered as one of the first six Family Nurse Practitioners in the U.S. She has contributed chapters to nursing books, written numerous articles on parenting, and been sought for newspaper, magazine, radio and TV interviews. Early on, the Chicken Soup for the Women's Soul team selected one of her stories, "I Was a Sixth-Grade Scarecrow," for their first book.

After marriage and a Peace Corps stint in Peru, Linda and her husband started a family. The challenge of raising 7 children with an age-spread of 16 years led to her discovery of the child rearing concepts of Alfred Adler and Rudolph Dreikurs. These life-changing ideas gradually brought personal responsibility out of over-responsibility, cooperation out of conflict, respect and encouragement out of daily mishaps.

Now semi-retired, Linda, her husband and their Australian shepherd, Promise, live nine months of the year as horse and cattle ranchers in Colorado. For recreation, Linda returns to Maryland, every winter, where she plays with grandchildren and continues to teach at PEP.