Sarah Elizabeth Wannell was born in Rotherham, England in 1964 and educated in Great Britain until the age of 16. Sarah began playing the piano, violin and flute at the age of 5 and around this time began writing stories, poems and plays in which her siblings and cousins were encouraged to perform! When she was 9, Sarah decided to send Queen Elizabeth II a personalized birthday card. Her classmates ridiculed her.... until a reply came from Buckingham Palace! This reply is framed and hanging in Sarah's house and serves as a reminder to forge ahead, even when those around you are not supportive of your efforts.
In 1980, Sarah and her family moved to Chicago, IL and she began her studies to become a teacher of French and English. She attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, graduating in 1987 with honors and Dean's List recognition six consecutive semesters. Following this, she taught 6th grade and pursued her MBA at National University, San Diego, CA. She spent many years in the classroom, teaching groups as large as 45 how to appreciate Olde English and how to conjugate irregular French verbs until she set up her own tutoring business in 1997.
Her first published poem, The Queen, was published in 1981 in the Homewood-Flossmoor High School Literary Review, and 2 subsequent stories and a poem were published in the Chicagoland papers when she was in her mid-30's. She attended the Royal Schools of Music/London to further her musical studies in all three instruments, graduating with distinction. She volunteers for a cat rescue in town, loves reading, coloring and Zumba, and never says no to dark chocolate.
We use cookies to analyze website traffic and optimize your website experience. By accepting our use of cookies, your data will be aggregated with all other user data.