CYNTHIA COOPER SHAW
An interview with Cindy, inspired by FAQs from the classroom
How old are you? Ageless. But I'll never forget the day my granddaughter said, "Grammy, you're SO very old." I assured her that I wasn't quite ready to be put out of pasture - and she assured me that she'd take very good care of my pets when I got there.
What were you like as a kid? That probably depends on who you ask. If you ask me, I was a middle child (of five). A nerd girl who didn't feel smart, but got yelled at a lot for not working up to potential. Socially, I felt pretty awkward and clueless - I was definitely not one of the cool kids. My mouth liked getting me into trouble, and I got sent to the principal's office (or home by friends' mothers) more than once.
My brother, Tom, doling out the sugar cane. (Trinidad)
What was it like growing up as a Navy kid? We would move every few years and I'd have to make new friends every time. I don't recall that being hard, though, because everyone else was in the same boat. And we got to live in really interesting places. My favorite years were in Florida and on the island of Trinidad, where we lived a stone's throw from the sea. (The topside island setting of Grouper Moon is based heavily on my experiences as a kid on Trinidad.) After Trinidad, we spent four years living just ten miles from Cape Canaveral, Florida, during NASA's Project Mercury. We were able to walk right across Highway A1A from school to the beach to watch the very first seven astronauts being launched into space!
Did you like science as a kid? I don't remember finding "science" all that interesting. Except for the sea and astronauts, although those were just part of life. I always enjoyed drawing birds and dinosaurs and ocean stuff. But I'll never forget an earth science poster project: My family had taken a camping vacation to Yellowstone National Park the summer before, so I did my poster on how geysers work. I really got into the project and put in a huge effort - but the morning it was due, the dog peed on it (yes, I'd left it on the floor). My teacher took mercy and granted me an extra day to repair the damage, and it ended up winning "class favorite." That project was a real confidence booster and must have planted a seed in me - even if it didn't sprout until years later. Maybe I'd liked science all along and just didn't realize it. I was definitely a late bloomer (in many ways).
Fourth Grade
So when did you realize you actually liked science? Not for a long time... My first job (at 16) was on weekends and evenings as a receptionist at a local cancer hospital (I told visitors what rooms patients were in and routed all phone calls into the hospital). The doctors' mail boxes were behind my work station. When things were slow, I started reading their medical journals. Then I started chatting up the docs when they picked up their mail. One thing led to another and before long they were letting me watching surgery (it was a teaching hospital), or inviting me to sit in on a radiation biology class that a radiotherapist (a doctor who kills cancer cells using radiation) was giving for technicians. Happily, my mouth didn't actually get me into trouble all the time - sometimes it led to good things, too.
Did you go to college? Yes, off and on, while working three different jobs to put myself through. I started at the University of Missouri (Columbia) and finished nine years later at the University of Hawaii (Manoa) with a bachelor's degree in zoology (the animal side of biology, not zoos). After my boys were grown I went back for a master's in education from Washington State University.
Did you always want to be an illustrator and writer? Nope. Drawing was always something I could do well, and I even won a few prizes for it, but I'd never thought of it as a career. For a long time I dreamed of being an architect, which is in a way related to art and science. Then I wanted to be a doctor, until I got a job working directly with sick people - at that point I knew being a doctor probably wasn't for me. As for writing, I liked writing poems - I remember having fun rewriting The Odyssey in Dr. Seuss-like verse for ninth-grade Latin class (and I know my teacher liked it because she actually smiled when she handed it back to me. Normally, she just glared). I wrote occasional articles for the school newspaper. And letters - my grandmas and aunts always liked my letters. They were always pages long.
How did you start illustrating and photographing science? I worked in medical research labs during college. My bosses (scientists) discovered I could draw - so they had me do illustrations for their papers and word got around. After my husband graduated from medical school we moved to Hawaii for his surgery residency - and that's where I took my first formal science illustration class, while finishing my zoology degree. We'd go scuba diving every chance we got. That's when I got interested in underwater photography.
When did you start writing? I'd always written informally (and formally for non-fiction projects), but didn't catch the bug to write a book until I was over forty years old. I'd been involved in my sons' schools and helping develop special science materials and programs to use in the classroom. I wanted to share my love of reef fish - but how do you get someone else who doesn't have access to the reef to love a cold, slimy fish? (That was before Finding Nemo came out.) Well, Nassau grouper are like puppy dogs of the reef (really, they are!) and dogs are easy to love, so I started there - and then it all took on a life of its own.
Our mini-Australian Shepherds, Elsa and Anna (yes, granddaughter bait), probably up to something.
An art lesson with Princess Fiona.
Grandma Cindy and Papa Karl, when we had just two granddaughters.