Judith C. Owens-Lalude grew up in Louisville, Kentucky. As a young girl she loved sports. Because both her parents were accomplished in aquatics, her first real sport was swimming. If asked, she would say, "I don’t remember when I couldn’t swim." As a middle schooler, tennis and swimming were her summer sports. Basketball was added as her middle school, winter sport. Her freshman year at Central High School, Louisville, KY., she tried out for the varsity cheerleading team. Her senior year, she was the squad’s captain. That summer she made the Kentucky All Star Cheerleading squad. She went on to college and became an educator. She graduated and later married A. O’tayo Lalude, M.D. They had two sons, A. Adesina and Akinwande. Today, Owens-Lalude’s special interest is in global education. She travels back and forth to Nigeria to study family and culture; to Europe to explore the impact of language on children from different cultures; and in 1995 to China for the Fourth International Women’s Conference. Owens-Lalude hopes that with her skills as an author, educator, dramatist, folklorist, speaker, and storyteller she will help to advance, empower, unite, and uplift women and children around the world.