Author Profile:  Ray Harder

Ray Harder, as playwright, shared scriptwriting roles on a dozen plays with his wife, Eleanor.  Their joint efforts have been produced throughout the world for many years and have been translated into several languages.  As a teenager, Ray built and raced sailboats in the Pacific, winning a collection of first-place trophies.  And in the Military, he served more than a year at sea aboard a converted sailing vessel, the 150-foot schooner, Te Vega, an adventure he later turned into articles and stories for numerous national publications.  Three more years on mid-Pacific duty, he rose from apprentice seamen to command a cutter, receiving a Bronze Star for his service.  Ray attended UCLA as an English major, was managing editor of the campus humor magazine, and met his future wife, Eleanor.  After graduating, he began a career in advertising and became Vice President of a West Coast ad agency.  A member of the Dramatist Guild and ASCAP, Ray also served as Vice-President of the American National Theatre Association-West, President of UCLA Friends of English, and lecturer in marketing for UCLA and the Small Business Administration.  Ray and Eleanor were honored with a Medallion Award from the Children's Theatre Foundation of America in recognition of their life-long collaboration in theatre for both youth and adult audiences.