ABOUT JESSAMYN WEST
An American novelist and short story writer, she is known for such works as The Friendly Persuasion and A Mirror for the Sky.
She graduated from Whittier College with an English degree and subsequently began a teaching career.
Her popular novel, The Friendly Persuasion, was adapted into a film starring Gary Cooper .
She married Harry Maxwell McPherson in 1923.
She is the second cousin of Richard Nixon .
