Jean Chapman

Jean Chapman may be:*Jean Erica Sherlock Lycett Chapman (1926-2012), a Australian Children's writer.*Jean Chapman (1939), a British Romance novelist.****Jean Chapman (1926-2012):Jean Erica Sherlock Lycett was born on February 15, 1926 in Sydney, the youngest of the three daughters of George Lycett and his wife, Margaret (nee MacLean). She went to Fort Street girls school on Observatory Hill, and had her first story, about a sick cow, published in the children's section of a Sunday newspaper when she was only 12. After finishing high school, she went to business college to learn touch typing, which was useful when she became a writer. Then she enrolled in the National Art School. She met Max Chapman on a blind date and they were married after World War II. They scrimped and saved to buy a block of land in Seaforth, where they built a house.She wrote ceaselessly, and her writing career took off when she began writing for the ABC's Kindergarten of the Air. Her imaginative stories were so successful that Chapman was offered a place at the ABC's scriptwriting school, graduating in 1960, when she began working on Playschool, Let's Join In and Kindergarten of the Air. She was a scriptwriter for the ABC's children's programs for 25 years. Chapman also began approaching children's publishers. Some early successes were followed by a long-standing association with Hodder & Stoughton (Australia). In the 1970s, it published Tell Me A Tale, a collection of stories, rhymes, songs and activities illustrated by Deborah and Kilmeny Niland, the twin daughters of the authors Ruth Park and D'Arcy Niland. The hugely successful book was followed by Tell Me Another Tale and themed collections such as Pancakes and Painted Eggs and the Sugar Plum Christmas Book. Chapman published 63 books in total and won several awards for children's literature. Children and children's books were Chapman's life's work. She frequently visited schools and libraries to speak to her readers. She was a tireless worker for the Children's Book Council of Australia's NSW branch, was made a life member and was awarded the council's Lady Cutler Award for her contribution to children's literature. She was also a member of the group that fought and won the battle to save Nutcote, the home of her fellow children's author, May Gibbs, in Neutral Bay. In addition to her busy life as a writer, Chapman supported Max in his passion for veteran cars. They frequently travelled together on motoring trips and were active in the Veteran Car Club. The pair travelled the world and she always had to visit children's book sites, including Hans Christian Andersen's house in Denmark and Beatrix Potter's house in England.Jean Chapman is survived by Max, their children Gregory and Louise, three grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. Her seventh great-grandchild is due in October and Chapman had already knitted and sewn pieces for the baby's layette.*Jean Chapman (1939):Jean was born on 30 October 1939 in England, UK. On 24 March 1951, she married with Lionel Alan Chapman, they had 1 son and 2 daughters. In 1989, she obtained a BA at Open University.Jean began her writing career as a freelance journalist before going on to write fiction. She is the writer of some romance novels and many short stories. Her debut novel "The Unreasoning Earth" and "The Red Pavilion" were both shortlisted for the Parker Pen Romantic Novel of the Year Award, she also was nomined to the RNA Major Award.Jean Chapman was elected the twenty Chairman (2001-2003) of the Romantic Novelists Association and she is the three-time President of the Leicester Writer's Club. She is a lecturer in creative writing. She has taught and lectured and spoken widely on creative writing and tutored on-line for Nottingham Trent University. She has acted as a reviewer and appraiser for East Midlands Arts and Readers' Digest.Jean Chapman lives in a small village in Leicestershire, England.