Welcome to my website. I'm Cathy Collison, a freelance journalist, editor and author. After many years at the Detroit Free Press, I now pursue freelance projects from my home. Many of my years were with Yak's Corner, a pioneering and award-winning literacy program to reach young readers in Detroit, and later syndicated in dozens of newspapers across the country. I continue to write for young readers, as well as adults. Among my books for young readers are "G is for Galaxy" with Janis Campbell (Sleeping Bear Press), "Why is the Barn Red?" (Detroit Free Press) and two books also co-authored with Janis Campbell in the "Women Who Won't Be Silenced" series for Lucent Press, profiling Reese Witherspoon and then-Sen. Kamala Harris. Just out in 2021 is a four-book civics series with Campbell (under pen name Campbell Collison) with Bearport. Our most recent release with illustrator and gifted muralist Wendy Popko is "Meet tbe Pets: Presidential Animals from A to Z," and we were pleased to see the canvases exhibited at Art Prize 2021 this fall in Grand Rapids.
Although I grew up in Michigan, I have strong ties to Iowa as well as Chicago, Illinois, where I began my career at "The Daily Herald." Some of my travel writing includes traveling the back roads of Iowa, from exploring the historic "Lincoln Highway" to seeing how the "American Pickers" changed the town of LeClaire, or immigrants brought a town back to life in Dennison. My love of reading was instilled early. I am a firm believer in reading aloud thanks to my mother, who believed in continuing read-alouds beyond picture books. She cultivated my love of adventure stories by reading "Treasure Island." She continued those sessions right into my teen years, breaking up road trip monotony when she read aloud "All the President's Men" in my teen years.
