About The Author...

Jo Schaper has spent most of her life in the foothills of the Ozarks on the rural suburban fringe southwest of St. Louis. No Disneyland for this young girl-she was taken on vacation to places like Turner's Mill wheel, Ink, Czar fire tower, and in 1969, Alley Spring State Park. Her first major writing effort was a 50 page report on the springs of South Central Missouri when she was 16. The spring report led her to find the caving community in 1986 and changed her life. Her passion for Missouri includes the rocks, history, water and the unique people who live here.

Jo has a degree in writing from SMSU and a geology degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia. She is a member of entirely too many caving organizations, the Association of Missouri Interpreters, and the Association of Missouri Geologists. She is a Fellow and Life member of the National Speleological Society (the cavers).

Although she began writing at age 13, it took a while to get paid to do so. Since 1998, she has written a geology column for The Outdoor Guide, a sportsmen's newspaper. She also does occasional articles for The River Hills Traveler, the St. Louis Labor Tribune, Missouri Life, The Missouri Conservationist and now, features in The Kaleidoscope Weekly She has authored two scientific issues of Missouri Speleology, articles in the NSS News, and wrote monthly for 5 years for The Meramec Caver. She has published two poetry books and has an entire filing cabinet drawer full of unpublished poems.

Jo has presented geology and history programs for Missouri's state parks, Elderhostel senior seminars, the St. Louis Science Center, the Bonebrake Center, and led tour busses down Ozark gravel roads. Since 1996 she has been the web mistress/author of www.missouriworld.net- where she explains geology and hydrology to laymen and students in plain English. The United States Geological Survey, the US EPA and many others have linked to her site and used her material. Once she called the USGS in Rolla, and they sent her to her own site!

After twenty five years in the printing industry, Jo now earns her living by writing, editing, speaking, doing graphic and website design and in-home residential computer help, the latter for seniors in Franklin and St. Louis counties. She is married. She and her husband Eugene spend as much time away from big cities as life permits.

I like to hear from folks! Please send any additions, corrections, or comments to joschaper@socket.net.

Revised March, 2007.