Rocks in Her Head or How I Became a Rolling Stone

About the Book

In 1950 the Ivanhoes were a stable family living in the oil town of Bakersfield, California. An oil geologist father with a secure job at Standard Oil and a wide circle of friends. Then calamity struck! Their teenage son was sent to Juvenile Hall for stealing. Overcome by shame, unable to face their friends, the family moved. From job to job, from country to country, uncertainty and frugality ruled their lives for decades. An arrest in Moscow by the KGB. In Poland, a fight for restitution of a stolen suitcase. Such events colored their travels. When the gypsy wonderers finally decided to retum to California, the author, with little money and no hotel reservations but lots of moxie, travels alone to Tehran, Bangkok, Manila, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Vancouver. “Rocks in Her Head” is an unembellished personal story told with humor, sincerity and candor as the author describes her dynamic life of travel and determination in diverse lands. “What a trip! You’ll love every page, every mile Helen Smart takes you in her charming and yes, very wise true story remaking her family’s lives” Laird Koenig

About the Author

Helen Liss Ivanhoe Smart was born on an isolated homestead in Northern Alberta, Canada. At nineteen years of age, she began her teaching career with eight grades in a log cabin schoolhouse. In 1949, she married L. F. Ivanhoe, a petroleum geologist, and moved to Taft, California. She has lived in Libya, Israel, Turkey, Italy, Colombia, and Mexico. Her work has been published in Saturday Evening Post, Sunset Magazine, and various children's magazines. In 2007, she wrote "The Intrepid Fox," the story of her family's challenging pioneer life in Northern Alberta. In 2011, a second book, "Lord Save Me From Taft,'' a tale of a young bride's struggle to adapt to life in a foreign land was published by Shoreline Press. Today she lives in Santa Barbara, California, with her husband, Hugh Smart, where she is active in community affairs when she is not busy in her garden.