About

JULIA LYON

A foundation in journalism.

Julia Lyon is an award-winning former newspaper reporter who now writes hidden history for kids. Her debut nonfiction picture book, A Dinosaur Named Ruth, published in November 2021. Illustrated by Alexandra Bye and published by Margaret K. McElderry Books/Simon & Schuster, the book is based on the true story of Ruth Mason who found dinosaur bones in her own backyard.

Before becoming a children’s book author, Julia worked in daily newspapers in Bend, Oregon and Salt Lake City, Utah for more than 10 years covering education, poverty, health and refugees. As a reporter, she spent many hours interviewing kids from around the world.

She specialized in in-depth stories whether it was a small town girls’ basketball team uniting kids on and off the reservation or Burmese refugees grappling with the loss of their only daughter just months after coming to America.

That story took her to Thailand on an International Reporting Project fellowship and led her to win a gold medal from the United Nations Correspondents Association.

Author Julia Lyon poses with baby elephant while on assignment in Thailand.

Julia Lyon, children’s book author, in Thailand.

Now Julia is writing books based on true stories she thinks all kids should learn. A college history major at Columbia University and a graduate of the Columbia Journalism School, she loves using her investigative skills to dig up remnants of the past in newspapers, letters and unexpected sources.

Julia lives in an old house in Salt Lake City with three very busy children and one very tall, kind husband. In her free time, she likes to swim and is trying to learn a few more chords on the ukulele. Though she hasn’t found any dinosaur bones in her backyard yet, there’s still time.