Jean Ure
About Author
JEAN URE was born in Caterham, Surrey and brought up in Harrow and then Croydon. She started writing when she was about six and has never stopped. Her teenage years were almost entirely devoted to writing, reading, listening to music, playing cricket and attempting to teach herself ballet. She completely missed out on what might be called normal teenage activities parties, dances, discos, the pop scene which she says is probably why many of her books are about misfits and oddballs!
She yearned to be a dancer but was never allowed to have lessons, so she wrote a wish-fulfilment book called Dance for Two, which was published when she was 16. At 17 she disgusted her head mistress by leaving school declaring herself to be 'A Writer'.
For the next four years being 'A Writer' consisted mainly of scrubbing floors, waiting tables, selling groceries in Woolworths on Kensington High Street, doing a bit of nursing and flouncing in and out of people's offices she never stayed longer than a month at the very most, usually only a week, and once only a morning! She then spent a couple of years in Paris working for NATO and UNESCO, doing a bit of translating and reporting, working in a record store on the Champs Elyses and falling helplessly into unrequited love. She then returned to London and enrolled at the Webber-Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art, where she met her husband.
To help support them in the early days, Jean wrote romantic novels and translated many violent and foul-mouthed novels from French into English. She also translated a film script from English into French which was she says by far the most nail-biting thing she's ever done. She worked on it all through the night, desperately wondering how to translate such words as Rocker Bar into French when she didn't even know what they meant in English!
Jean Ure wrote her first teenage book, See You Thursday, in 1980 inspired by bitter memories of her mother chopping up her beloved piano while she was in Paris because it contained woodworm.
Jean Ure now lives in a 300-year old house in Croydon, with her mini sanctuary of rescued animals 7 dogs and 4 cats. She has been a vegetarian for many years, and at home is a vegan. Before acquiring all her animals she did a lot of work for animal rights and remains a passionate supporter.
Jean Ure is not afraid to tackle big themes in her books such as, dyslexia dysfunctional families, terminal illness, emerging adolescence and lack of self-esteem. She handles all of these issues in her own inimitable way, with a mixture of sympathy and humour which is all her own and makes her stories extremely accessible to all children of all backgrounds. Jean travels ceaselessly around the country visiting schools and libraries and strongly believes in making books reach children wherever they are.
Jean Ure's recent titles have included The Secret Life of Sally Tomato, Skinny Melon, Shrinking Violet, Pumpkin Pie, Passion Flower, Family Fan Club, Secret Meeting, Is Anbody There?, Sugar and Spice and Boys Beware. Her latest book, Over the Moon, will be published in June 2006.
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