Mary Ann Hoyt grew up in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. After raising four children in New Jersey, she moved with her husband, Paul, to the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia. Retirement from hospital nursing brought two more moves—first to Delaware, twenty minutes from the ocean and closer to their ten grandchildren. In 2022, they settled in Rhode Island, near the beaches which held nostalgic memories of their annual family vacations. And it's here where Mary Ann wrote her third collection of humorous essays.
She had articles published in nursing magazines during her tenure as an RN in acute care hospitals. Her interest in writing humor emerged after devouring the works of Erma Bombeck, whose funny stories kept her from curling into a fetal position as a young mother with four kids and a cat; and Nora Ephron, who got her through the indignities of aging with her book, I Feel Bad About My Neck.
Mary Ann Hoyt reminds her readers humor is a powerful coping mechanism, which gives perspective to most of the curveballs life throws us. She gives us permission to laugh, even in times of trial, because she believes that finding the funny unlocks our joy.
She's had essays published in the magazine, Delaware Beach Life, and the American Journal of Nursing's blog, "Off the Charts." She belongs to the Rehoboth Beach Writers Guild and the Association of Rhode Island Authors. Hashtags and Zoom Bewilder this Boomer was awarded 1st Place by the Delaware Press Association's 2021 contest in the category of "adult nonfiction book-humor." It was also awarded Honorable Mention in the same category by the National Federation of Press Women in their 2021 national communication contest.
