As a student at Yale University, John C. Stickler joined the Yale Daily News, ending up as senior editor. He graduated with an honors major in sociology and returned home to Tucson, Arizona. The U. S. Peace Corps had accepted his application (the first from Arizona) and assigned him to the Philippines, but his draft board felt that as a conscientious objector he was unfit for Peace Corps service.

The battle over his destiny led to a one-year U.S. Army post at a Military Advisory Group in UN Command HQ in South Korea. Taking his discharge in Seoul, he established one of the first advertising agencies in that country, assisting Korean firms with their exports and tourism development, unaware at the time that he was standing on "square one" of "The Miracle on the Han." After his day job, he filed news reports for the CBS radio network.

After a decade in Seoul, John and his wife, fine-artist Soma Han, and their two boys returned to the States, settling in California. Acquiring a national business magazine, he began a career of publishing, editing, journalism and corporate public relations. During the 1990s he began writing books for Fodor's, Berlitz, and a world trade publisher in Hong Kong.

John and Soma have written and published two Korea-themed children’s picture books: the nonfiction Land of Morning Calm: Korean Culture Then and Now (Lee & Low) and Maya and the Turtle: A Korean Fairy Tale.(Tuttle). Soma illustrated both titles in watercolors. The fairy tale won the prestigious Morning Calm Award in 2014, awarded the medallion by hundreds of elementary school children in 12 International Schools across South Korea.

Today John and Soma are retired and live near the artist colony of Tubac in Southern Arizona. Soma no longer paints, but her oeuvre is on display at: https://somahan.org/. John offers his developmental editing and copywriting skills for hire.

John and Soma's book, Maya and the Turtle: A Korean Fairy Tale, is the winner of Korea's 2014 international Morning Calm Medal. Voted first by hundreds of 4-6 graders at 12 international schools across South Korea. This is a classic Korean myth, an ancient lesson in filial piety, respect for one's parents, presented in an engaging Cinderella story. The 12-minute fairy tale is narrated by talented young actress Talulah Shadrick, age 12. The American Library Association newsletter Booklist! said in their review of the audiobook, "Child actor Shadrick gives a charming performance . . . dramatically flawless."

https://libro.fm/audiobooks/9781518916243

When Publisher's Weekly reviewed the original picture book they wrote, "The husband-and-wife team of Stickler and Han retells a fairy tale from Han's childhood in which a young woman's kindness and bravery are rewarded handsomely."

https://www.tuttlepublishing.com/books-by-country/maya-and-the-turtle-hardcover-with-jacket

website: somahan.org
Fine Art America: Soma Han

uTube: Maya and the Turtle
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4eajGr7vFhE