Vicki Oransky Wittenstein

Like Geoff Marcy, the astronomer in her book Planet Hunter: Geoff Marcy and the Search for Other Earths, Vicki is fascinated by the idea of life on other worlds. As a young girl, she loved camping. The summer she was 13, she camped out for two months in many of the National Parks across the USA. At night, when she couldn't fall asleep inside her sleeping bag on the lumpy, hard ground, she would stare at the stars and dream about Martians and other weird aliens. Were they out there? What did they look like? One of her favorite movies is still ET, The Extra-Terrestrial. Vicki enjoys the Science section of The New York Times and she devours all news about space launches and missions, as well as other kinds of science, too. What is the latest scoop about life on Europa, Jupiter’s moon, or the viruses that cause the common cold? Ask her, she will know (or be able to tell you where to look)!

Vicki loves to write and tell stories. Once, when she was 9 and at a slumber party, her friend’s mother banished her into another bedroom. A ghost story she told was so scary that her girlfriends couldn’t fall asleep. Needless to say, the mother never let her spend the night again.

From the time Vicki was very young, she liked to read (and still does!). Back then, if you were trying to find her, the place to look was on the big, swinging basket chair in her bedroom in Maplewood, New Jersey. There she would be, surrounded by pillows, with her nose in a book. Her favorite books were biographies, books about outer space, and novels (they still are!). Mostly, she was curious about new ideas, people, and places.

This curiosity led Vicki in many directions. The first was to college at the University of Pennsylvania, where she received a B.A. in American Civilization and Urban Studies. Then, after receiving a law degree from Cornell Law School, she worked as an Assistant District Attorney in Manhattan, prosecuting criminal cases. Recently, she received a M.F.A. in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts.

Vicki started writing for children and young adults mainly because of her desire to research and find answers, and to pass on her enthusiasm for learning to kids. An article in the newspaper or a sound byte on TV would catch her attention. Soon she would be reading everything on the topic.

That's what happened when Vicki first read about Geoff Marcy, one of the first astronomers to detect planets orbiting stars in other solar systems. Her research on planet hunting led to an interview with Marcy and an article that appeared in Highlights For Children magazine. Years later, that same article sparked her desire to write a book about Marcy and his search for Earth-like planets.

In researching Planet Hunter: Geoff Marcy and the Search for Other Earths, Vicki traveled to the W.M.Keck Observatory on the summit of Mauna Kea, a dormant volcano about 14,000 feet above sea level in Hawaii. She spent several days watching Marcy hunt for planets with the Keck I telescope. For almost a year, she learned about planet hunting techniques, planet discoveries, and talked to other scientists and experts in the field. After compiling all the facts, she then figured out a way to write Marcy's story. Vicki's hope is that Marcy's life and example will encourage others to explore the riches of our solar system and beyond.

Vicki believes in the power of dreams and how dreams, if put into action, really do take flight (maybe even into outer space!) One person can have lots of dreams, too. In her life so far, she has been a student, a prosecutor, a writer, and an advocate for children and families. Her writing and reading have taken her to faraway places, where she has met many people and learned about new ideas. Vicki hopes her readers are inspired to do the same.