Jennifer Gay Summers

I grew up in Pacific Palisades, California, daughter to a successful screenwriter, John Gay, and his actress wife, Bobbie.  Our house was filled with stories from Hollywood sets and the sound of Broadway music.  I revered my father, sneaking down the street to write too, hiding under a giant butterfly bush and locking the words away in my red leather diary with a gold key.  It would be years before I took the journey to unlock my words. 

Instead, the acting bug bit me, and I attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, followed by a career performing on stage and in television, under my maiden name, Jennifer Gay. At 28, I sought more stability in my life and chose to pursue a teaching career.  I received my undergraduate degree at UCLA, then my teaching credential in English at UCSB. 

I went on to teach English and theater in public high schools, winding up in adult school with high school students at risk.  Little did I know, at the time, how much this would help me when I became a mother.

After 13 years of teaching English, my desire to write was rekindled.  I took an internship at Whole Life Times where I became a regular news contributor. My husband and I welcomed a lively red-headed daughter into our lives, and my writing morphed into personal essays and stories about our child and pets.

During this time, I had the great honor of helping my father write his memoir, Any Way I Can; 50 Years in Show Business. My work has also been published in national anthologies and magazines, including Chicken Soup for the Soul, Conscious Women, Conscious Mothers, and Adoptive Families magazine.  I have been a regular blogger for ADDitude magazine for the last seven years, writing about the gifts and challenges of raising a child with ADHD.