ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Bainy Cyrus is the author of five books. She was born severely deaf in Norfolk, VA, and learned to speak/lipread at Clarke School in Massachusetts. She graduated from Virginia Tech in 1985 with a bachelor’s degree in landscape horticulture and worked as a landscape designer for nearly 20 years before deciding to change careers. In 2004, Bainy earned a master’s degree in counseling from Old Dominion University. She worked as a job coach for people with disabilities for fifteen years until her retirement in 2021. Her first book, “All Eyes,” was published in 2005 as an anthology titled “Deaf Women’s Lives: Three Self-Portraits” and won the silver Eric Hoffer award in the memoir category. Then, “All Eyes” was published as a stand-alone edition in 2010 and won two silver awards in the autobiography/memoir category. Next, she self-published “Della on Facebook” in 2012, depicting her year-long daily posts on her Labrador puppy, Della, who passed away of old age in 2023. Lastly, Bainy self-published her current book “Tea and Toil at The Woman’s Club” in October 2023. This narrative nonfiction won six winner and finalist awards, one of which was the winner of Independent Press Award in the women’s issues category. Bainy lives in Norfolk with her husband, Steve, and their lab rescue, Sydney. She enjoys hiking, biking, pickleball, gardening, and RVing.