Manchester Resident Becomes First Time Author – At Age 80!

Lifelong Manchester resident Elaine Leone will become a published author for the first time later this month – at the age of 80!

Her book of verses, The Grandies, which celebrates the grandparent-grandchild connection, will be released Tuesday, July 26. The book is being published by Tate Publishing, an Oklahoma-based Christian publishing company.

So what exactly is a grandy?

“They’re grandparents and grandchildren,” said Leone, a grandmother of six who are all now in college and beyond.

The 105-page book features about 100 verses, written from a
child’s point of view, which are “enchanting, singable rhymes” that will “remain as precious memories for life,” according to the book jacket.

“They can actually be sung to different tunes the children want to or whoever’s reading them can also sing them if they want to,” observed Leone. “There’s no particular tune [to sing them to] but most of them are about four lines; some go to six or perhaps a little more. Some are only two but they’re very easily remembered or sung if you’d like to do so.”

Leone described her verses as “sort of like teaching without preaching.” She explained, “some of them have little stories or morals to them but they’re kind of hidden in the story.”

Leone, who has been writing since she was a child, said some
of the verses date back two decades. “Some of these I wrote as long ago as 20 years ago for my own grandchildren; I used to tape them for my grandchildren and they’d listen to them at night in bed. But they never found their way into print because I didn’t try it, and suddenly, here they are in print,” she said.

The Grandies came about when Leone took a chance in May 2010 and contacted Tate Publishing, which clearly liked her creative verses. Leone even went out to Oklahoma this past May to record the audio book.

For Leone, a self-described “housemother” with no training
in writing, becoming a published author as an octogenarian is clearly a sweet experience.

“Nothing ever appeared in print before – a few things, little things – but not anything like this little book, which is kind of nice at my age to have happen,” she said.

And she has kept on writing – Leone said she currently has many other
verses stockpiled for possible future publication. “I still keep writing them always and there are some that are a whole new collection that are not published because I haven’t presented them in anyway,” she said.

Leone’s son Scott stated that publication of his mother’s
book is “not only [a] lifelong ambition, but it [is] only the tip of the
iceberg.” His mother has enough material for at least one more book of verses, “and plenty more where that came from,” said Scott.

Leone’s grandchildren listened to her verses throughout
their youth and remember their favorites verbatim to this day, said Scott.

“I’m not really a poet talking about the majesty of the Rocky Mountains or anything like that; I’m kind of a rhyme winder, a song spinner and I just I like to pick up things kids do or families do that are fun to write about,” said Leone.

Leone recently had a chance to visit children at Bowers Elementary
School, where she read verses and answered questions. She also plans on having some local book signings in the near future but no times/dates have been solidified.

When it is released on July 26, the book will retail for
$10.99. It will be available at thegrandies.com or at www.tatepublishing.com. Leone is hoping that it will be available locally in bookstores as well.