Donna J. Stone

Donna J. Stone was an award-winning poet and philanthropist. Her works included numerous individually published poems, as well as a collection entitled Wielder of Words (© 1991 Donna J. Stone, © 2010 Stonegate Press) that was named the American Poetry Society’s 1991 Book of the Year. Wielder of Words, edited by Dr. Christopher Stone, Ms. Stone's younger son, is now in its second printing. Some of Ms. Stone’s best-known poems are still included in other publications, as well.

In addition to writing, Ms. Stone was actively involved in several charitable organizations, including the Association for Retarded Children and the National Committee for the Prevention of Child Abuse. She also established the Matthew J. Pascal Foundation, a private family foundation named after her older son.

Donna J. Stone grew up near Bexley, Ohio, a fashionable suburb of Columbus. Her parents were strict Lutherans of German descent. She was not a healthy child. Twice struck with rheumatic fever, she was bedridden for months at a time. But she was a bright child with good tutors, and finished school two years early despite her prolonged illness. She grew into a healthy young woman of striking beauty, and married a talented young writer named John Pascal. (Mr. Pascal's works would later include the Broadway musical George M!) The Pascals lived in New York and had one child, but the marriage lasted only a few years.

A second marriage soon followed, to pilot and real estate investor L.E. Stone. The Stones also had one child and, due to Mr. Stone's business interests, eventually moved from New York to a suburb of Dallas. Ms. Stone's philanthropic interests, which began in New York, grew considerably after moving to Texas. So did her interest in writing. Her first poem was published circa 1986, and by 1990 she had established herself as a noteworthy poet. With the critical success of Wielder of Words, Donna J. Stone's reputation as a writer began to approach her longstanding status in the charity community.

Unfortunately, Wielder of Words would be her only book. Childhood rheumatic fever had damaged Ms. Stone's heart, and her health began to fail again at an early age. She continued to write, however, and was known to say that she did some of her best work between bouts of illness. She died of heart failure in 1994, at age 61. Ms. Stone’s family, in cooperation with American Mothers, Inc., founded the Donna J. Stone National Literary Awards in her honor.