Although she has lived on the same block for fifty-one years, Grace Anne Schaefer ’68 authored a Native American family saga, which takes readers to a place far from Leander, Texas.

Schaefer grew up in Leander, with no initial intention of attending Southwestern University. She received a noteworthy scholarship from the University, but did not register until her high school principal informed her that she was suspended from high school unless she did. Grace Anne’s perspective changed for the positive when she was “cornered” by President Fleming during Parent’s Weekend. “I realized that if the president of the university wanted to talk to me, then it couldn’t be that bad.” Grace Anne grew to love Southwestern. She found both comfort and challenge in Dr. Jeff Campbell’s English courses. It was Dr. Campbell that encouraged Schaefer to write. “He taught me the beauty of words, of how one could paint pictures with words.”

Although she taught K-12 for thirty-two years, she never quit writing. Twelve years ago, in a mere twelve weeks, she wrote 1200 pages, starting her series, People of the Frozen Earth. Schaefer spent many days in Southwestern’s A. Frank Smith, Jr. Library, researching the history of Native American tribes in the United States for her books. Her intuitions were correct about many tribal traditions, having to only change three customs of her fictional characters.

A phone call from Schaefer’s first agent changed the onset of the series. Her agent received the same criticism five times from five different publicists, “She (Schaefer) is starting in the middle of the story.” With that, her initial 1200 pages became books three and four of the saga. Grace Anne then wrote the first book of the series, A New Day Dawns. Schaefer shared, “The basic premise of my series is education, respect, and responsibility as well as learning from the past to protect the future.”

"This experience has changed me. This summer, my husband and I traveled 7500 miles to visit 25 states. We visited Indian Pow Wows, museums, and libraries.” When staying with the Me’tami tribe in Indianapolis, Indiana, Schaefer witnessed the installation of chief Frank Silverhaired Beaver. Schaefer commented that, “He spoke to his people just as the chief in my book spoke to his people.” Beyond her personal visits, Schaefer is committed to helping the Native American tribes. In fact, ten percent of all her book sales go to the Lakhota Sioux at the Pine Ridge Reservation, South Dakota.

Grace Anne shared, “The characters are so real to me. A man once called me to let me know that the stories help him find who he was. He could see his family members in the story’s characters.” One can anticipate Schaefer’s continuation of the story of People of the Frozen Earth in her second book As Shadows Fall, which will be on the shelves in November 2005.