Laurie Coker ’66 is an author, poet, illustrator, actor, and teacher. She and her husband live in Austin where she works as a substitute teacher. In October 2012, Laurie’s book Tattersall, a collection of 10 short stories, was published and is available in soft cover, e-book, and large print through Amazon. In the book’s introduction, Laurie writes, “Like a loosely woven Tattersall warming the backside of an old horse, this collection of fictionalized characters interwoven throughout my life form a kind of a mantle I wear wherever I go. I sometimes feel like an old house that has had many inhabitants over the years revealing their stories within my walls, our symbiotic relationships both good and bad, lingering and urging me to tell their truths as they saw them. I continue to be fascinated by people and what makes them ‘tick,’ their motivations, their passions, their strengths and weaknesses. In studying their uniqueness, I discover my own.”
Although Tattersall is her first published collection of short stories, “The Chair” was published in Stone Drum literary magazine in 1986, and her poems have appeared in numerous publications including The Signal, Stone Drum, and Periplum.
Laurie is a retired health promotion specialist for the USDA Texas WIC program, which published two of her bilingual children’s books, Beans for Breakfast/Desayuno con Frijoles and Jump for Joy/Brinca con Blanca. Laurie’s film credits include An Ordinary Family, Artois the Goat, and Tom’s Wife. She is the voice of Mrs. Dowager on the free-to-play online game Wizard 101 (www.wizard101.com).