Jean Ward

Galveston Before 1901: an "Old Man" Who Lived There Before the Hurricane of 1900 Jean Ward

Jean Elizabeth Ward has lived equally in the North and in the South. Has traveled abroad and has a background as versified as her poetry. In September 1999 she moved into the old part of Seabrook, close to the Kemah bridge. Needing to be as close to the sea as she could be. Dreams and nightmares began and she began to keep a journal of them, not realizing exactly what they were until someone told her that it sounded like she might be dreaming of Galveston. When she bought a computer she began to do research on the names she had imagined/Dreamed, finding them to be real people. She finally organized her poetry and prose with the only thought of preserving them for her Grandchildren. Finally deciding to publish them, hoping they would not be received in a negative way. Either way it has been cathartic for her as she continues to live by the bay with her little blind dog, writing her book and illustrating them.