Elinor DeWire


Elinor DeWire is an American author, freelance writer, editor, public speaker, educator, and blogger based in Connecticut. DeWire writes both fiction and nonfiction, but is best known for her books about lighthouses and her work in lighthouse preservation and education. She occasionally writes under the pseudonyms J.J. Scott, Jessica Scott, and Aline Matthews.

Early life and education

DeWire was born in Frederick, Maryland.

Career

DeWire began her career as an author by writing freelance stories for a Florida newspaper. After selling a story about lighthouses to Mobil's Compass Magazine, she wrote her first book, Guide to Florida Lighthouses, which was published by Pineapple Press in 1987.
From 1991-2000 DeWire wrote two columns, "Lifelines" and "Whale Oil and Wicks" for the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration's Mariners Weather Log.
Since that time DeWire has authored more than twenty books about lighthouses, including a series of illustrated, quick-reference e-books about lighthouses, the "Itty-Bitty-Kitty Guides". She has also written romance novels, plus four books and a number of articles about amateur astronomy and sky watching and an e-book about poultry.
She has continued to contribute articles about lighthouses to magazines and newspapers, including columns titled "Shore Almanac," "Away from the Bay," "Kids on the Beam," and "Liquidized Lore." She has been a regular contributor to Weatherwise Magazine, The Beachcomber, Lighthouse Digest", and The Keepers Log, journal of the U.S. Lighthouse Society. She maintains a blog which also focuses on lighthouses and related nautical topics, and has written fiction for several magazines.
DeWire is also a public speaker about lighthouse history and lore, and she volunteers for several nonprofit groups devoted to lighthouse preservation and education.

Awards

DeWire's books Lighthouses of the Mid-Atlantic Coast and Lighthouses of the South have won the Ben Franklin Book Award and the Coast Guard Book Award. She was awarded a short fiction prize in 1992 from the National League of American Pen Women. She is also the recipient of the Coast Guard Meritorious Public Service Award.

Books by Elinor DeWire