In January, 2016, Lillian McCloy celebrated her 90th birthday. For this momentous occasion, her daughter Johanna McCloy presented her with the following gift: she would transcribe, edit, and publish the memoir that Lillian drafted on her Selectric typewriter over 20 years earlier.
Johanna McCloy, a freelance writer and editor, published Six Car Lengths Behind an Elephant: Undercover & Overwhelmed as a CIA Wife and Mother under the Bordertown Publishing imprint. With very limited exposure, Lillian McCloy’s memoir garnered prominent author endorsements and rave reader reviews. (As of October 1, 2026, the book averages a 4.4-star rating from nearly two-hundred reader reviews on Amazon.)
Johanna was also the longtime editor of the popular website, Dare to be Fabulous, featuring women’s personal stories of daring, joy and empowerment. As such, she curated a selection of those stories for her next book, Dare to be Fabulous. She also created the Dare to be Fabulous Journal Notebook as an optional companion for the many writing prompts in the book.
What’s next? Johanna is currently co-authoring a spy novel with retired CIA Senior Intelligence Officer, James Lawler. 😎 Publisher TBD.
BOOK TALKS & PRESENTATIONS
“Johanna’s talk about her mother’s life and memoir was very interesting and went very well. I loved it! Everyone really enjoyed it. She certainly got a lot of attention after, too; she was constantly surrounded.”–Nienke Hohmann, Arts & Culture Events coordinator & host, Coterie, San Francisco
Please link to read more about Johanna’s book talks and presentations and contact Bordertown Publishing if you’re interested in hosting a speaking event.
Johanna is now on Substack. Her publication is titled In This Life. Join her there for posts, updates, and more.
