Frances Kakugawa, who currently resides in Sacramento, was born and raised on the Big Island of Hawaii in Kapoho, which was demolished by lava when she was 18 years old. She has taught for many years in the Michigan and Hawaii public school systems; conducted language arts workshops for teachers in Micronesia and in Hawaii; and was a curriculum writer and lecturer for the University of Hawaii.In 2002, she was recognized in the "Living Legacy: Outstanding Women of the 20th Century in Hawaii" book. Today, she continues to write, conducts writing support groups for caregivers, gives writing workshops for adults and children, and gives lectures on caregiving and writing throughout the U.S. These projects are being done in conjunction with organizations such as the Alzheimer's Association of Northern California, Del Oro Caregiver's Resource Center and similar groups. A new project is currently being developed to provide support and writing workshops for children who live in families with members who suffer from Alzheimer's or dementia-related illnesses. Frances is an award-winning author of ten books. Her two children's books, "Wordsworth the Poet" and "Wordsworth Dances the Waltz," have received Best Children's Book of the Year awards from Hawai'i and California publishers' associations. Three of her books, "Mosaic Moon," "Wordsworth Dances the Waltz" and "Breaking the Silence," address aging with dignity and family caregiving. Her memoir, "Kapoho: Memoir of a Modern Pompeii" was named "Best Non-Fiction" by the Northern California Publishers & Authors. Her poem, "The Enemy Wore My Face," has been selected as the opening work for the Rising Sun portal of the World Peace Monument (www.peacemonument.org).Works that are currently being readied for publication include:-- "Silk & Steel", a collection of poems and talk-story spanning 50 years of writing.-- "Wordsworth, Stop the Bulldozers!" is the third volume in the Wordsworth children's series. Wordsworth The Poet and his friends face the challenge of encroaching development threatening to destroy the environment and take over their town. -- "It's In Your Pocket, Wordsworth," finds Wordsworth's friends mysteriously absent as a whole slew of gadgets, from ipods and video-games to cell-phones and tweets, appear on the scene.More information can be found at www.francesk.org