About the Author

Dawn Marisch is a Wisconsin-based author and award-winning poet whose work is informed by faith, resilience, and the lived experience of rare disease. A wife, and mother of three beautiful daughters, she has a bachelor degree in elementary education, two graduate degrees in educational leadership, and a certificate in grief education. Dawn spent decades guiding students and communities as a teacher, instructional coach, elementary principal, director of student learning, mentor, and grief educator.

An outdoor enthusiast and seeker of meaning found in everyday moments, her life changed profoundly after surviving a medical crisis, followed by a rare-disease diagnosis of Vascular Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (VEDS) that shaped her path as an advocate. Dawn has shared her story through multiple news and radio programs, Versiti Blood Center of Wisconsin advocacy, public events, and with legislators during Rare Disease Week on Capitol Hill.

Following the devastating loss of their eldest daughter in 2020 due to their shared rare condition, Dawn has sought new ways to welcome joy back into her life—often through creativity, music, nature, and community. She believes that fragility and strength often live side by side.

Dawn’s mission is to seek all the good this life has to offer—and to share it with others. Writing has become the vehicle for that purpose.