A Life Shaped by Story, History, and the Pursuit of Truth

Jerrianne Hayslett’s writing journey began as her husband, Hilbert “Hibbie” Hayslett, served in the United States Air Force and their family moved from one assignment to another. California, Taiwan, upstate New York, Virginia, and Michigan each offered new people, places, and experiences she wanted to share. She began writing about those adventures and submitting stories to small magazines.

The family’s life changed dramatically when Hibbie was assigned as an adviser to the Imperial Iranian Air Force. Jerrianne and their children accompanied him to Iran, where she was fascinated by the country’s sights, sounds, culture, color, and people. Their adventure ended abruptly during the Islamic Revolution. Jerrianne and the children were evacuated from an increasingly dangerous environment without knowing when — or whether — Hibbie would be able to leave.

The experience, and the weeks of waiting and uncertainty that followed, gave her writing a more serious direction.

Reporting and editing at newspapers across Southern California and Nevada, including Riverside Press Enterprise, Redlands Daily Fax, Las Vegas Review Journal, Daily News of Los Angeles, Ventura County Star-Free Press and Pasadena Star News.

After retiring from the court, Jerrianne published Anatomy of a Trial: Public Loss, Lessons Learned from The People v. O.J. Simpson, an account that takes readers behind the scenes and into the judge’s chambers of one of the most closely watched trials in American history.

Throughout her newspaper and court years, she continued nurturing a love of children’s books — both reading them and creating stories of her own. After moving to Wisconsin to be near family, she joined writing groups, revised earlier manuscripts, and developed new work. That creative journey eventually led to Valiant Vel: Vel Phillips and the Fight for Fairness and Equality, her first published book for young readers.

In the years following her court career, Jerrianne worked internationally as a media and communications consultant, including assignments in Albania, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, Slovenia, and Indonesia. She led workshops for journalists and public officials, helping newsrooms and institutions rebuild the practice of clear, credible public communication.

Those years abroad reinforced a conviction that had shaped her writing from the beginning: people everywhere are interesting, talented, and worth knowing. That belief informs her books, and it is one of the reasons she wanted to tell the story of Vel Phillips — a woman whose quiet persistence and civic courage deserved to reach a wider audience, and a new generation of readers.