Celebrating our fourth and
Celebrating our fourth andfinal child’s wedding!
Mary Jo Thayer
Author. Public Speaker. Educator. Mentor.
I love God, people, sports, mountains, and coastlines.
Welcome! I’m glad you’re here and hope to meet you in person one day. The life of every human being fascinates me. We all have tales to tell.
I’m Mary Jo, a natural extrovert and people lover. I’ve been that way since I made my world debut into a huge Catholic family as the eighth of eight children. I have been surrounded by infants and the elderly and all the ages in between my entire life.
You will see that everything I author is woven with relatable characters and a wee bit of pedagogy because the teacher comes out of me even when I’m not expecting her. I was born to be an educator and a mom, which is the life path I chose in kindergarten, believe it or not. Well, except for that fleeting notion in second grade about becoming a nun.
My husband, our children, and grandkids are likely to grab the lion’s share of my attention, and certainly my prayers, but the doors to our home are known to swing wide for friends, clergy, and people we hardly know.
I married my high school sweetheart straight out of college, with John still having several semesters to complete for his degree. We started out in a tiny mobile home in a rural college town, where he graduated in the midst of a tanking Michigan economy. We ended up finding jobs–in Virginia! Four children, four in-laws, and several grandchildren later, we have hiked and have prayed in some of the most beautiful locations in the United States, Mexico, Australia, France, Hawaii, Thailand, Spain, Portugal, Italy, and the Caribbean. God has spoiled us Thayers.
Thank you for coming along on life’s journey with me!
Biography
Mary Jo Thayer’s early life experiences gave her a heart for education and empathy. To those ends, she earned two degrees in the field of teaching. Though she formally retired from the classroom in 2012, she continues to guest-lecture around the Midwest and beyond. Her humor and joy, sprinkled with large doses of reality, have encouraged hundreds to follow their hearts and consciences in becoming the best versions of themselves.
She began her journey as a novelist upon relocating to Grand Rapids in 2012. Her Sand and Soul series includes two novels: Close to the Soul and Running Out of Sand. Both have garnered high praise and recognition from industry professionals. She writes about the tough stuff of life from a Christian perspective and through a Theology of the Body lens.
She is a natural extrovert and people lover, whose primary fun activities include hosting gatherings for family and friends, hanging out with grandchildren wherever they are, participating in sports herself, and traveling anywhere a plane might take her. She is married to her high school sweetheart, and together they raised their four children with faith, courage, and enthusiasm. She is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers and the Catholic Writers Guild.