Artist & Novelist Sarah Gilbert Fox
Sarah Gilbert Fox was born in Athens, Georgia and raised in Atlanta, Georgia, NYC and Columbia, S.C.
After her turbulent years of dropping out of high school (4 years) and college (4 years), she went on to graduate from both, earning her degrees in English and Creative Writing at the University of South Carolina.
She became a highly acclaimed, published novelist (receiving praise from Jackie Kennedy Onassis, Clyde Edgerton and Charles Portis).
Vanity Fair magazine called her “the funniest woman writer since Flannery O’Connor.”
Sarah’s mother, Elizabeth Gilbert, was an artist, art educator and the president of the SC Artist Guild. Her father, Thomas Gilbert, coined the term “Performance Engineering” and is considered the founder of the field of Performance Technology. He credited Sarah with her input in his book: Human Competence: Engineering Worthy Performance. In his earlier years, Tom studied under B.F. Skinner (B.F. Skinner was Sarah’s first babysitter – by accident!). Both of Sarah’s parents died in the ’90s.
Sarah moved to Paris, France, where she lived for two years (she lived in the 7tharrondissement and then the 14th arrondissement – as well as in Fontainebleau) where she learned to speak French very badly and became a travel writer.
She was married to William Price Fox (an even more highly acclaimed novelist, being praised by Kurt Vonnegut, Walt Kelley and Bruce Springsteen – who wrote his song Darlington County based on Bill’s book Dixiana Moon).
Sarah and Bill lived in Columbia, S.C., then Baltimore, MD, and finally the Washington, D.C. metro area. Between the two of them, they published over 10 novels, rescued countless animals and raised a civic-minded, marvelous daughter named Jenkins (who now lives in New York City studying political science and history). During her Mid-Atlantic time, Sarah became an executive editor and a social media and content strategist for magazines and science journals, as well as a visual and content strategist (with a focus on user interface and branding), working in both non-profits and for-profit fields.
Sadly (and after a very long illness) Bill died in 2015. During Bill’s illness, Sarah started her own consulting business and took up painting.
Since Bill’s death, Sarah has sold many paintings and shown in galleries in NYC.
Her consulting practice has thrived and she offers pro bono work to other creatives.
Sarah and her new husband, Mark Tolson, recently moved to NYC – right during the heart of the heart of the pandemic. Great timing, but they could not be more happy or proud to be New Yorkers.
● About Sarah’s Art – and her Artist Statement
Focus on the joy of playing with paintings and sculptures. Read her art philosophy.
Before the original abstracts and unique animals, there were the novels.
Sarah Gilbert’s first novel was discovered by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis; however, Jamie Raab (the President and Publisher of Celadon Books, and former Publisher of Grand Central Publishing – originally Warner Books) was the editor who snagged it (under the Warner Books imprint)… only after the book had landed on a sport’s editor’s desk who went to lunch with Jamie, laughing at how an agent could be stupid enough to send a sport’s editor a book called Hairdo. Jamie loved the title, asked to see it, and Voilà.
Click to read more about Sarah Gilbert Fox’s novels.
● CV / Resume > a focus on all things UI / UX: sarah@sarahgilbertfox.com
