Mary McKnight Whalen was born in Columbus, Ohio, in 1948, the second of six children. In 1955 the family moved to rural southeastern Ohio where she still resides. The Forgotten Rose was written to honor her maternal grandmother, Mary Hannah Bright (September 19, 1889 - March 12, 1966), also known as Hattie. In 1966, in her senior year in high school, Mary was assigned to write an essay. She choose to write what was close to her heart; her love for her Grandmother and her Grandmother's wish to see her Grandchildren graduate high school.
