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	<author id="40336">
  <name><![CDATA[Sapphire]]></name>
  <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/40336.Sapphire]]></link>
  <fans-count type="integer">12</fans-count>
  <followers-count type="integer">3</followers-count>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1232296965p5/40336.jpg</image_url>
  <about><![CDATA[Ramona Lofton, better known to her readers as Sapphire, was born in 1950 in Fort Orr, California. On the surface, her family was characterized as normal and middle class. Her father was an army sergeant and her mother a member of the Women's Army Corps. When Sapphire was a child, the family relocated several time to various cities, states, and countries. When she was only 13 years old, Sapphire's mother became an alcoholic and eventually departed from her life, dying in 1983. That same year, her brother, who was then homeless, was killed in a public park. 

Sapphire attended San Francisco City College in the 1970's, majoring first in chemistry and then switching to dance. She soon dropped out to become a hippie and in 1977 moved to New York, taking several odd jobs, including topless dancing and housekeeping. It wasn't until the early 1980s that she began writing poetry and reading it aloud at various Village venues, including the Nuyorican Cafe. 

Sapphire eventually returned to school and graduated with honors in 1993 with a degree in modern dance. Upon graduation, she taught reading to students in the Bronx and Harlem and also enrolled in graduate school at Brooklyn College. 

She has a degree in Dance from City College in Harlem and a Masters of Fine Arts degree from Brooklyn College.

The novel &lt;i&gt;Push&lt;/i&gt; was adapted into a film, &lt;i&gt;Precious&lt;/i&gt;, which premiered in 2009 at the Sundance Film Festival.
]]></about>    <gender>female</gender>  <hometown>Fort Ord, California</hometown>  <born_at>01/01/1950</born_at>    
  
  
  <books>
        <book id="71332">
  <title><![CDATA[Push: A Novel]]></title>
  <authors>
    <author>
      <name><![CDATA[Sapphire]]></name>
      <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/40336.Sapphire]]></link>
    </author>
      </authors>
  <average_rating>3.98</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>2988</ratings_count>
  <published>1997</published>  
  
</book>
        <book id="106873">
  <title><![CDATA[American Dreams]]></title>
  <authors>
    <author>
      <name><![CDATA[Sapphire]]></name>
      <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/40336.Sapphire]]></link>
    </author>
      </authors>
  <average_rating>4.14</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>69</ratings_count>
  <published>1994</published>  
  
</book>
        <book id="6931274">
  <title><![CDATA[Precious]]></title>
  <authors>
    <author>
      <name><![CDATA[Sapphire]]></name>
      <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/40336.Sapphire]]></link>
    </author>
      </authors>
  <average_rating>3.82</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>51</ratings_count>
  <published>2009</published>  
  
</book>
        <book id="146470">
  <title><![CDATA[Black Wings &amp; Blind Angels: Poems]]></title>
  <authors>
    <author>
      <name><![CDATA[Sapphire]]></name>
      <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/40336.Sapphire]]></link>
    </author>
      </authors>
  <average_rating>3.98</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>45</ratings_count>
  <published>1999</published>  
  
</book>
        <book id="4344734">
  <title><![CDATA[Astral Sex]]></title>
  <authors>
    <author>
      <name><![CDATA[Sapphire]]></name>
      <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/40336.Sapphire]]></link>
    </author>
      </authors>
  <average_rating>3.33</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>3</ratings_count>
  <published>2006</published>  
  
</book>
        <book id="7187459">
  <title><![CDATA[precious]]></title>
  <authors>
    <author>
      <name><![CDATA[Sapphire]]></name>
      <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/40336.Sapphire]]></link>
    </author>
      </authors>
  <average_rating>0.0</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>0</ratings_count>
    
  
</book>
        <book id="2984155">
  <title><![CDATA[Mastering Remote Viewing]]></title>
  <authors>
    <author>
      <name><![CDATA[Sapphire]]></name>
      <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/40336.Sapphire]]></link>
    </author>
      </authors>
  <average_rating>0.0</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>0</ratings_count>
  <published>2006</published>  
  
</book>
        <book id="1836667">
  <title><![CDATA[Meditations on the Rainbow]]></title>
  <authors>
    <author>
      <name><![CDATA[Sapphire]]></name>
      <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/40336.Sapphire]]></link>
    </author>
      </authors>
  <average_rating>0.0</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>0</ratings_count>
  <published>1987</published>  
  
</book>
        <book id="844750">
  <title><![CDATA[Successful Astral Projection to the Space and Universe]]></title>
  <authors>
    <author>
      <name><![CDATA[Sapphire]]></name>
      <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/40336.Sapphire]]></link>
    </author>
      </authors>
  <average_rating>0.0</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>0</ratings_count>
  <published>2007</published>  
  
</book>
        <book id="576170">
  <title><![CDATA[Sapphire's Astral Projection Adventures Throughout The Universe (Volume I)]]></title>
  <authors>
    <author>
      <name><![CDATA[Sapphire]]></name>
      <link><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/40336.Sapphire]]></link>
    </author>
      </authors>
  <average_rating>0.0</average_rating>
  <ratings_count>0</ratings_count>
  <published>2006</published>  
  
</book>
      </books>
</author>
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