Rosemary Kissinger Updyke was born and raised in east Texas, and she began her writing career in high school on her school newspaper. During World War II she married, moving to New York at the end of the war. After her move to New York she began writing again, stashing pieces away in filing cabinets—never submitting any manuscripts to publishers. Updyke attended numerous workshops over the years in an effort to improve her craft.
Her interest in Jim Thorpe and his life began more than fifty years ago, when her first husband told her about him. Ever since then, Mrs. Updyke has been fascinated by the athlete and the man who was Jim Thorpe. His personal and professional successes and setbacks so intrigued her that she ultimately decided to write Jim Thorpe, the Legend Remembered. During the course of her research, she developed a friendship with Thorpe's daughter, Charlotte. The result of years of research and personal interest is this remarkable book. However, this is not the first time that the life of a Native American has so captivated Mrs. Updyke.
In 1984, following the death of her husband and her early retirement, Kissinger began researching the background of the last great Comanche Indian chief Quanah Parker, the legend of whom she had first heard as a child growing up in Texas. She recalled the menfolk of her hometown swapping tales of Quanah's life as they sat on their front porches after Sunday suppers. In Quanah Parker: Comanche Chief she attempts to present the life of this famous man—the son of a Comanche chief and a blond, blue-eyed young woman who had been abducted as a child by the Indians'as accurately as possible, and she hopes young adults will be intrigued enough to read and learn more about the American Indians.
Rosemary K. Updyke is a member of the International Women's Writing Guild, the Native American Pavillion of Pennsylvania, and the Pocono Writers. She is also very active in the local libraries.