Archives West Finding Aid

Biographical/Historical Note: Barbara Winther is an author, teacher, and businessperson. She graduated as an English Major, Art Minor, from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). She did post-graduate work at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB), where she received her teaching credential. For ten years she taught elementary school in California. She and her husband, Grant Winther, owned and operated Old Bear Trading Company for twenty-one years, dealing in the art of Native America and First Nations, which led to six years of Barbara teaching seminars for University of California Extension and acting as the docent training chairman for the Africa, Oceania and Americas Gallery of the M.H. de Young Museum in San Francisco. An avid world traveler, Barbara has written numerous plays based on folklore from a multitude of cultures. Her award-winning books illuminate traditional cultures. Her hour-long musicals for children teach the value of working together. She also writes articles on travel, history and art. For over twenty years Barbara has been a member of the South American Explorers Club. In 2002, she was elected to the prestigious Society of Woman Geographers. Besides traveling and writing, she enjoys playing tennis and doing volunteer work in her community. She lives with her husband Grant, a retired attorney, on an island near Seattle.