Lori Switaj McCormick

Lori Switaj McCormick considers herself as a compulsive writer. She typed her first book, The Quiet, in 1994 in a mere 30 minutes on a brand new PC. She took a few days to tweak in before putting it into her file cabinet, where it remained until 2006 when she moved.

Poking through her file cabinet, she found the manuscript and thought, "This is a book." Not that she did anything about it. It took her a few years when, as a hockey coach and player, she literally ran into Michael Morris on the boards. Apologizing over a beer after the session, she learned he was a stellar illustrator, working first for Hallmark, and then for American Greetings. They agreed to collaborate on The Quiet.

Mike sent his first illustration in 2011. It then took eight (8!) more years to finish and publish the book mostly because they were both busy doing other things.

McCormick has a long history with words. In her younger, motherhood years, she had items published in major daily newspapers, weekly newspapers, parenting magazines and a handful of online sites. She joined a newspaper in 1999, rapidly ascending to the position of editor. Her favorite part of being on a newspaper staff was publishing a bi-weekly humor column, WordPlay, which earned her numerous state titles for Original Columns. She notes much of her column fodder came from her growing children and their escapades and misdemeanors.

McCormick also earned state awards for investigative reporting, features and headline writing. She left the paper in 2009, joining media giant AOL News/Huffington Post Media Group as a digital editor.

The parent of two now-grown children, Matthew Switaj (SLC, Utah) and Dr. Lynn Switaj Paterini, (Cleveland, Ohio), McCormick moved from Avon Lake, Ohio to Downtown Cleveland in 2014 where she continues her reign of fun in the midst of one of the United States' most fun cities. She lives with her husband, Judge Timothy McCormick. Together they parent Jackie, their rescue terrier mix.

In her spare time, McCormick manages Duke Farms & Garden, a Cleveland urban farm and community garden that donates fresh produce to food pantries. A committed vegetarian, she hasn't had meat since 1976, and despite her love of growing veggies, she prefers pasta, potatoes and pizza over any other food.