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“Dear Reader,
It’s me again — Jacob.
I arrived at Evening Post Books in 2024 and stepped into a catalog that already carried weight.
I’d like to share some of those editorial insights with you — a glimpse behind-the-curtain of what it took to bring these titles to life.
One of the first manuscripts I worked on in 2025 was Ahead of Her Time, written by Nancy Thode about her mother, famous writer, Ann Head — a Beaufort native, trailblazing author, and teacher who profoundly influenced a young Pat Conroy. (Each time Conroy published a book, he placed a rose on her grave).
On the surface, it is a biography. But at its core, it became something more layered: a daughter carefully excavating the life of her mother.
This was Nancy’s first book.
To witness an author step into print for the first time — especially when the story is tethered to uncovering the life of a family member — requires trust on all sides. Our assistant Editor, Elise Lusk, lead the project and I came alongside her to support. Editing the manuscript required honoring the historical record while also protecting the storyline through a daughter's eyes.
At the book’s launch in Beaufort, SC, Nancy, the author and daughter of Ann Head, shared a reflection that lingered with many of us: that in writing this book, she came to realize that you never fully know your mother until you attempt to trace her story.
Perhaps that is part of why the book resonates so deeply. In uncovering her mother’s story, Nancy invited readers to consider their own. How many of us really know our mothers?
I’ll let you linger with that question. It certainly left my curiosity piqued.
Jacob Hollifield, Managing Editor, Evening Post Books
Thursday, August 20, 2026
Local Author Nancy Thode Wins National Award for Biography of Literary Trailblazer Ann Head
Local author Nancy Thode, longtime Greenwich resident now residing in Stamford, has recently been awarded a 2026 Silver IPPY Award in the annual Independent Publisher Book Awards, recognizing excellence in independent and self-published books. Her prize-winning biography, Ahead of Her Time: The Trailblazing Life and Literary Legacy of Ann Head, is about her mother, pioneering feminist American writer Ann Head, and an important early mentor to novelist Pat Conroy.
Nancy grew up with a dynamic family. Her father, Howard Head, was an American aeronautical engineer and inventor who revolutionized winter sports by creating Head Skis, the first successful metal laminate ski. Later in life, he transformed tennis by inventing and patenting the oversized aluminum and graphite Prince tennis racquet. But Nancy chose to write her mother’s biography, celebrating her strikingly unconventional life, telling of her personal and literary struggles in such depth and candor that readers say “the biography reads like a novel.”
After divorcing inventor Howard Head, Ann Head supported herself and her daughter, Nancy, entirely through her writing—an extraordinary accomplishment for a woman of her generation. She was an early feminist voice and published more than 50 works. Her best-known book, Mr. and Mrs. Bo Jo Jones, became a bestseller and remained on school reading lists for more than 50 years, introducing generations of young readers to the subject of teenage pregnancy.
As a teacher at Beaufort High School in South Carolina, Ann Head was an early mentor to Pat Conroy, one of America's most beloved storytellers, best known for The Prince of Tides, The Great Santini, Beach Music, and South of Broad. Conroy later wrote about Head in his autobiography, describing the profound influence she had on his life and writing, “Every time I sell a book, I put a rose on her grave.” Thode's biography includes more than 20 pages of previously unpublished correspondence between Head and the young Conroy, including his early poems and letters expressing his admiration for the teacher who encouraged his writing.
Conroy's influence on Thode’s was personal as well as literary. Thirty years ago, he sat in Nancy’s living room, reminiscing about Ann and lamenting that her work had faded from view.
Then he turned to Thode. “You should write about your mother.”
The words stayed with her.
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Southern Literary Review
October 6, 2025
The Southern Literary Review celebrates Southern authors and their contributions to American literature.
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Southern Literary RTeview Author Profiles and Interviews
Mary Ellen Thompson interviews Nancy Thode, author of “Ahead of Her Time, The Trailblazing Life and Legacy of Ann Head”
The Post & Courier
Nancy Thode discusses her well-known and eccentric mother with Mary Ellen Thompson Special to The Post and Courier on March 16, 2025
Listen to the podcast on HarmonyTalk
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Nancy Thode’s book lauded at the Pat Conroy Literary CenterPat Conroy
This presentation was filmed at the main branch of the Beaufort County Library on March 27, 2019. Nancy Thode was introduced by Grace Cordial, Beaufort District Collection manager.
Nancy Thode’’s Book Launch on the Facebook page of the Pat Conroy Literary Center
Read the article in Explore Beaufort SC
The Pat Conroy Literary Center hosted the Beaufort launch event for her new book. This special event was held in partnership with DAYLO: the Diversity Awareness Youth Literacy Organization and the Beaufort County Historical Society.
