Raised in Idaho and Indiana, Marj Gurasich has been a resident of the Houston area for over thirty years. She is the author of several nonfiction studies and the juvenile novel, Red Wagons and White Canvas. The inspiration for Letters to Oma was twofold: While researching the history of Industry, Texas, for an article on the 150th anniversary of town founder Friedrich Ernst's arrival in Texas, she came across a magazine photograph of an antique German cuckoo clock. She had long been fascinated by the story of the German settlers, their hardships and sacrifices, and their immense contributions to the patchwork-quilt culture that is Texas. The clock inspired her to create a story about those early settlers, the story of Christina and her family . . . and her clock.