Martha Freeman was born in Southern California in 1956. It is not actually true that pterodactyls ruled the skies then, but her three children believe this. Martha graduated from Glenoaks Elementary, Woodrow Wilson Junior High, and Glendale High School. Until Martha came along, Glendale High's most famous graduate was a fellow named Marion Michael Morrison. He later went into the film game and changed his name to John Wayne, which you might very well do, too, if you were a boy named Marion in unenlightened times. In 1978, Martha graduated from Stanford University with a degree in history. She remains Stanford's most illustrious graduate if not its most wealthy. Stink Bomb Mom Martha's First Book. Martha worked as a newspaper reporter, copy editor, substitute teacher, college lecturer, advertising copywriter, and freelance magazine writer before she found her true calling as a writer of children's books in 1994. Her first book was "Stink Bomb Mom," now, tragically, out of print. She has since published 14 more books for children and as you read this, she is probably working on another one. Besides writing and visiting schools to talk to students, Martha teaches occasional classes at Penn State University, volunteers as an emergency medical technician, and works for a wonderful little company called Wall Street Communications. She is a very busy person.