 
Vera Jane Cook, known to friends and family by her middle name, was born
in New York City and grew up amid the eccentricity of her southern and
glamorous mother on the Upper West and Upper East Side of Manhattan. An
only child, Jane turned to reading novels at an early age and was deeply
influenced by an eclectic group of authors. Her early favorites were Look
Homeward Angel, Atlas Shrugged, Portrait of a Lady, War
and Peace and anything and everything by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Some
of Jane’s present favorites are The Secret Life of Bees, Interview
with a Vampire, Dogs of Babel, The Color Purple, the
books of Luanne Rice, and anything and everything by Nelson DeMille.
Jane
has won numerous awards for her work as an actress
and has worked in the professional theatre for over
a decade, falling further in love with the plays
of Tennessee Williams, Eugene O’Neil, Lillian
Hellmann, and Sam Shepherd. Jane has appeared in
television, regional theatre, film and off Broadway.
Some of her credits have included both classic and
original plays at Playwrights Horizons, WPA Theatre,
Kennedy Center, Theatre for The New City, Bucks County
Playhouse and many others.
After
ten years in the theatre, Jane developed a passion
for art history, film theory and philosophy. To nurture
her many interests, Jane enrolled at Hunter College
through the CUNY BA/BS program from the City University
of New York.
Jane
received her degree in Communications and graduated
Magna Cum Laude in 1982. Jane went on to earn a Masters
in Educational Theatre from New York University and
took an honorary withdrawal from Actors Equity, SAG
and AFTRA. For the next decade, Jane became a teacher
and seminar/workshop leader. At the New Lincoln School,
Jane taught creative writing, drama and English to
middle and high school students. Jane also taught
the craft of acting to adult professionals at various
colleges and adult centers. In the mid eighties,
Jane developed a seminar for artists that focused
on teaching the business of being successful in the
arts entitled: The Reality of the Dream. This
on-going workshop received successful feedback for
Jane and was presented at many artists' forums, acting
schools and colleges around the tri-state area.
A
bizarre mid-life crisis forced Jane into corporate
life at the age of forty-five. She worked as an education
territory manager for The New York Times and
as a Project Manager for the Education department
of the New York Daily News. She has also worked
for Scholastic Inc. in New York City and presently
works as an Education Specialist for Oxford University
Press.
Jane
is grateful for her years in corporate America for
it was during this period in her life that she discovered
the importance of creativity. Over the last few years,
Jane has completed five novels and has developed
her newest workshop/seminar: The Corporate Crunch:
Get Creative or Crack. This seminar/workshop
is presently available for workshops, seminars, and
adult education courses and is also the basis for
her first non-fiction book.
Dancing
Backward In Paradise is Jane’s first
published novel. Jane has published short stories,
articles and newsletters and has also written early
childhood curriculum. Her published curriculum
has been for Weekly Reader and McGraw Hill.
Jane’s next novel, Hearts Upon a Fragile
Bough, will be published this year.
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