Mary Diane Lang
Mary Diane Lang, born and raised in the German and Irish culture of Cincinnati, attended local Catholic schools before continuing her education at the University of Cincinnati, where she received a B.A. in English and a B.S. in Education. She also attended the Queen Elizabeth College in London, England, and studied Mortimer Adler’s philosophy of Paideia education at Xavier University. Lang has taught high school English and drama in ten different school systems (due to her husband’s job transfers) over a twenty-two year period, during which time her students nominated her twice for Teacher of the Year (Ohio and Atlanta public schools), voted her Star Teacher (Atlanta public schools), invited her to be the key speaker at their graduation, and nominated her several times for Who’s Who of American Teachers. Over the years Lang has directed high school and middle school plays, and ventured to exotic places with student groups. These trips have ranged from scuba diving in the Caribbean to hiking through the rain forests of Costa Rica. She has been a certified scuba diver and amateur archaeologist since she met Michael Buchanan.
Lang enjoys writing of all kinds, including screenplays, short stories and poetry. She had her own arts column in The Lakewood Ranch News, Bradenton, Florida (2001-2003); and wrote as a food critic for The Cincinnati Enquirer (2004-2006) before moving to Richmond, Virginia. She currently writes for Richmond magazine Fifty Plus. Micah’s Child (April 2006), a novel about the wine-drinking soccer moms of suburban Atlanta, is her first collaborative effort with author Michael Buchanan. Lang and Buchanan are currently working on the sequel to Micah’s Child, as well as The Cry of the Quetzal, a historical romance set in Monteverde, Costa Rica. The Fat Boy Chronicles, a fictionalized journal of an obese teenager, is under consideration by major publishers.
Lang's screenplays Treasure of the Four Lions and The Fat Boy Chronicles will be in production soon. A regular speaker on Celebrity Cruises, Lang has been invited to share her writing, traveling, and teaching experiences at literary and educational conferences.Lang and her husband Don currently live in Richmond, Virginia. They have two outstanding children, Donald Jr. and Sarah Elizabeth.
Robert Penn Warrens’ writings have greatly influenced Lang, her favorite being “…. if you could not accept the past and its burden there was no future, for without one there cannot be the other….”