Computer Programmer Turned Author to Appear in Princeton This Weekend

Laurie Wallmark grew up in a house that supported her love for Math, but a society that generally discouraged girls from pursuing careers in math and science.

“When I was in high school, my mom asked my principal about the possibility of me taking an advanced math class,” Wallmark said. “My principal asked ‘Do you have a boy or a girl?’ and when my mother said ‘girl,’ he said ‘She wouldn’t be interested in taking an advanced math class.’”

Her mother was outraged and her principal was wrong.

Wallmark went on to become a computer programmer, working in that industry for 15 years. Now as an author, she hopes to encourage today’s little girls to pursue a career in science, technology, engineering or math (STEM).

Wallmark will appear in Princeton on Saturday to promote her first published book “Ada Byron Lovelace and the Thinking Machine.” The book was published by Creston Books, and illustrated by April Chu. It was published on Oct. 13, which is Ada Lovelace Day.

She will be at Labyrinth Books, 122 Nassau Street in Princeton, 2 p.m. for a reading of her book and a workshop for children ages 5-10.

The book is a picture book about Ada Lovelace, a British mathematician and writer who lived from 1815-1852. She worked on the Analytical Engine, an early form of a computer. Her notes include what is recognised as the first algorithm intended to be carried out by a machine.

Like Wallmark’s mother, Lovelace’s mother supported her interest in math. Both Lovelace and Wallmark were raised in what Wallmark described as a “pro-intellectual atmosphere,” where it’s good to learn and it’s good to read.

Lovelace is a good role model for many underrepresented people in society because she was bedridden for three years, Wallmark said. She describes Lovelace as a “mirror” for the underrepresented and a “window” into a world those who don’t face these obstacles may never have seen before.

After 15 years in the computer programming field, Wallmark decided she didn’t want to work in a corporate environment anymore.

She wanted to work for herself, so she started a mail-order company in which she sold books about adoption and infertility. She also began teaching Computer Literacy at Raritan Valley College.

Then one day, she had an idea to write a children’s book. Once she began writing, she realized she needed to learn how to write.

She has a degree in computer programming, but she is currently pursuing a Master of Fine Arts degree in Writing for Children and Young Adults at the Vermont College of Fine Arts.

She expects to complete her degree in January.

Wallmark writes in many different genres from picture books to middle grade novels, poetry and nonfiction.

For this book, Wallmark teamed up with Chu, who began her career as an architect, but found her passion in f illustrating and storytelling. She has since collaborated with authors to infuse diversity into picture books in such titles as In a Village by the Sea which has received starred reviews from Kirkus and Publishers Weekly along with rave reviews in The New York Times.

As an author, Wallmark won the 2010 SCBWI Runner-Up Work In Progress Grant for nonfiction. She’s had articles published in Highlights for Children, Spider Cricket, Appleseed and other children’s magazines.

She also writes a blog about writing books for children.

She lives in Ringoes, NJ, with her husband. She has two adult daughters.

In each undertaking she’s pursued, she has used STEM. She wants girls to know how important STEM is, but she also has another message.

“Math is cool,” she said.

It’s a lesson she looks to continue to deliver this weekend in Princeton.