Jeanie Okimoto recently published Grief, Age, Love, featuring poems by many Vashon poets who offer their poetic insights into life’s last chapters. We talk about the book as well as Jeanie’s creative path as author, playwright, and publisher and social activist.

Jeanie’s books and short stories have been translated into Japanese, Italian, Chinese, Korean, German, and Hebrew. She has received numerous honors, including Smithsonian Notable Book, American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults, the Washington Governor’s Award, and the International Reading Association Readers’ Choice Award.

She began writing in the mid-1970s while also launching a private psychotherapy practice in Seattle. Initially a children’s author, Jeanie went on to write for young adults, then for the stage and short fiction, and more recently has turned her attention to stories exploring aging and the inner lives of characters over sixty.

As a publisher, Jeanie founded her own independent press after early success with traditional publishers. Through it, she has published both her own books and those of friends whose works were out of print or difficult to place.

A cornerstone of the Vashon writing community, Jeanie has led writing groups and edited threeanthologies of work by local authors—one focused on memoir, and the latest, Grief, Age, Love, a collection of poetry that we discuss in this interview.

Jeanie and her husband Joe are also longtime advocates for social justice.

Grief, Age, Love is available at the Vashon Bookshop or through Bookshop.org, which supports independent bookstores like the Vashon Bookshop. All proceeds benefit the Vashon Senior Center.