The first twenty years of the author's life are chronicled in her memoir, Growing Up Rich in Vernon, Indiana. In this narrative, a girl describes people, places, and events of the 1940s and '50s, employing the honesty only a child can get by with.

Through Carol Jeanette's eyes we visit the lady with special clothes for fires and wrecks, the town atheist, and the man who was allergic to water, to name a few.

But while laughing at Carol's problems with her immediate family-she has six siblings-and her town family, the reader sees the larger picture and is reminded of what the word community once stood for.

This humorous, child's-eye view of one American small town was published in 1992. The hardback book contains 288 pages and 168 b/w photos. It retails for $19.95 and is available at Amazon.com.

The author is also marketing a miniseries based on the McCoy book.