Suzanne Fisher Staples of Nicholson, PA has devoted her life to promoting international understanding through literature, most effectively through her award-winning novels for young adults base on her 13 years experience as a foreign news correspondent in South Asia for UPI and as an editor for the Washington Post. She has received more than three dozen national and international awards for her books, including the Newbery Honor Award for her first novel, Shubabu. A Pennsylvania native, she has brought literary distinction to her state by organizing The Gathering at Keystone College, a literary conference that brings notable authors of global distinction to Northeastern Pennsylvania. She continues her writing, speaking and teaching throughout the third world in order to foster literature and learning.