Medium-length bio:

I grew up in Kensington, Maryland, the youngest of seven children. My father was an international journalist; my mother, a nurse. My childhood was a good dose of playing outside, often with my brother Davie, the second youngest, and getting lost in my own imagination via reading, writing and dancing. After graduating early from college in Texas, I moved to NYC where I studied acting, co-artistic directed a theatre company, performed off-Broadway and discovered writing again. At twenty-four, I married John Cote, an artist and commercial story-board artist. I started writing one-woman pieces for myself and this led to full-length plays for others. We moved to the Hudson River Valley, where, while raising two daughters, I continued writing plays, screenplays, poems, essays, stories, and led writing workshops. After my parents died, my brother Davie was having serious health challenges, so my siblings and I decided to move him from Maryland to my small town in New York. This was one of life’s unexpected surprises and the story that inspired my book.

An even longer bio:

I am the youngest of seven children. I grew up in an old house in Kensington, Maryland, just north of Washington D.C. (My father, once a poor Milwaukee, Wisconsin newspaper delivery boy, grew up to be an international newsman, a CIA operative and ultimately a self-taught painter into his mid-nineties. My mother was a high society Nampa, Idaho girl who attended Stanford University, survived TB and then took a boat across the ocean to study nursing at the American Hospital in Istanbul. There, she met my father, and the adventure of raising seven children began. She went back to nursing school when I was in high school, then wrote nursing books and volunteered at a local clinic for decades.)

As a young child I got lost in books and my imagination. I explored the backyard with my brother Davie, the second youngest of the big Zusy gang. I wrote and put on shows with my neighborhood friends. By high school, I found a true passion in dance. My most vivid memories of my teenage years were being alone in the family room, putting on a record -Earl Klugh comes to mind- and letting my body express itself through movement. This was a private thing, though I know sometimes my parents would peek out from the kitchen and watch and I pretended not to notice.

In college, I studied dance and film, with an emphasis on writing. I graduated early to live in NYC. There, I worked for a man who managed actors, and this opened my world to theater. I studied acting, became a co-artistic director of a theater company, and this led to writing short one-woman performance pieces for myself, and ultimately, full-length plays. I met a cute guy at the China Club on the Upper West Side and a couple of years later, we married. After we had our first baby, we moved to the Hudson River Valley. Here, while raising our two daughters, I continued to write and lead writing workshops.

Some of the plays I wrote: Kicking Inside, Welcome to Westchester, If Only, Massage in Progress, Ma and Betty Save the Day, Senior Moment, Like Cats and Dogs, Glorious Day. I wrote the book and lyrics for Jimmy Moves Out (made it to the second round at Eugene O’Neill Theatre Festival), Loggerhead Rock (for kids, locally produced). I had readings and workshop productions at these theaters: Playwright’s Horizons, Cherry Lane, Hudson Stage, True North, Hudson Valley Shakespeare, Cape Cod Theater, Ensemble Studio Theatre, Ars Nova, Rattlestick, Flock Theater. Screenplays: Ladies Room LA (Pegasus Films), Dam Journal.

After my parents and oldest sister Annie died, I started to write fiction. Inspired by the story of how my parents met and Annie’s birth, I researched and wrote a few drafts of a novel that took place in 1950’s Istanbul, Cairo and Rome. Hope to get back to that someday. Then my brother Davie, who lived in Maryland, almost died. Davie had Diabetes Type 2 and intellectual disabilities and a lust for sugar, a dangerous combination and ongoing challenge. My siblings and I decided to move him and his dog up here, to be closer to me and my family. Ultimately, we bought them a small house very close to mine, where he lived with 24/7 care. This is the story that inspired The Frederick Sisters.

At the age of fifty-seven, my debut novel is about to be published. Our daughters are in the city now. My daily meditation is a walk in the woods with Arlo, our pandemic pup. My daily celebration is a jump on the trampoline. I continue to write and take in as much art as I can, and I am filled with gratitude. I believe that we are the sum of the love, art and nature that we experience. I celebrate all that have influenced me and made my life richer.

Thanks so much for your interest. I wish you all the best! 

Jeannie