Welcome to

SandraGouldFord.Com

About Me

Who is Sandra Gould Ford?

Sandra is a twice-married mother of two beautiful daughters and a proud grandmother. Her creative journey began in elementary school, writing poems, plays, and a graphic novel. She loved drawing clothes, attended art classes at the Carnegie Museum, and took her first photos with a Brownie Bullet camera.

Sandra started working in high school as a cashier and office clerk. After graduation, she held jobs at Alcoa, U.S. Steel, TWA, and a law office. While raising her children, she typed at the Poison Control Center, a TV station, and a steel mill—earning a Bachelor’s in Media Communications and a Master’s in Creative Writing. Later, with support from the Trade Readjustment Act, Sandra earned a Photography Degree and freelanced as a photo-essayist.

Inspired while working at Jones & Laughlin Steel, Sandra began Steel Genesis, a photo-memoir. She later founded Shooting Star Productions, wrote Faraday’s Popcorn Factory, and launched a jail writing program now called Words Without Walls. Sandra continues teaching and sharing stories that lift hearts and humanity.

Want to Reach Out to Me Directly?

Contact me with any inquiries, inpirations, wisdom, and encouragements you have.

My Writing

Stories and Explorations

  • All
  • Sandra's Stories
Photo (c) Sandra Gould Ford

November 21, 2019

Can I Bloom And believe that Despite ashen and tarnished shadows Even if built of bricks and sticks and stones...

Snow (c) Sandra Gould Ford

November 21, 2019

Why didn’t she turn white? And what was she anyway, that sleek, furry black creature … a small animal, tail...

The Tap

November 20, 2019

The Universe resounds with the joyful cry, I am. –Scriabin Tap:  to pierce in order to draw off liquid … to...

Hey

November 13, 2019

I trusted you. That secret was ours. We promised, No snitchin’. So, why’d you talk? We could have used that...

Wolf Beneath The Waves

November 13, 2019

The brick-red Jeep Wrangler cruised beside the icy river, kicking up great sprays of snow. The driver, Peyton Granville, said,...

Evening Star

November 13, 2019

“Being right can lead to lonely nights. I guess you know that now.” Addie Capshaw Blaylock leaned toward her daughter,...

On The Making of Steel Genesis

Steel Genesis offers metaphors for human mettle and personal genesis from a mill that once nestled on the Monongahela River’s banks. Iron-making operations began before the Civil War. The last steel was poured in April, 1985.

Founding the Words Without Walls Program

See the story of the Creating Writing Class at Allegheny County Jail.

Shooting Star: Black Literary Magazine

Explore the Black American experience through literature and art.

A Summer Reading

Learn more about the City of Asylum Garden Event and the Writers in the Gardens.

Illustrated Wisdom

See how Sandra’s “Illustrated Wisdom” workshops transform through creation. These workshops showcase how scribbling, doodling, and playing with crafts can access your deepest wisdom.

The Gallery

See my artwork and more